Department for Transport

Driving Under Influence

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will assess the potential merits of reducing the drink drive limit in England and Wales to 50milligrammes of alcohol per 100millilitres of blood.

Jesse Norman: The Government has no current plans to lower the drink drive limit. The Government considers rigorous enforcement and serious penalties for drink drivers is an effective deterrent.

Taxis: Assistance Dogs

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that taxi and mini cab drivers do not discriminate against assistance dog owners.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Under sections 168 to 173 of the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs), who do not hold a medical exemption certificate, to refuse the carriage of an assistance dog. Drivers convicted of doing so may face a fine of up to £1,000 in addition to any sanction imposed by the licensing authority such as suspension or revocation of a licence. The Department is currently considering the responses to the consultation on the draft Accessibility Action Plan which will inform the updated Best Practice Guidance for taxi and PHV licensing authorities. It is the Department’s expectation that the guidance will include a recommendation that authorities should use their existing powers to require prospective drivers to complete disability awareness and equality training to ensure drivers have the skills, knowledge and understanding to provide all passengers with the assistance they require.

Crossrail 2 Line

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the (a) terms of references for and (b) identity of the Chairman of the independent review of Crossrail 2; and when that review will be required to report.

Joseph Johnson: As part of the government’s commitment that transport spending across the country advances in lockstep, in partnership with Transport for London, we have established the Independent Affordability Review to further develop Crossrail 2, chaired by Mike Gerrard. It will cover: Funding – assessing options for additional funding sources beyond those already proposed, the resilience of funding sources and the equity of funding proposals;Finance – procurement approaches, stress testing financing options and improving clarity of financing policies; and,Cost and Risk – assessing options to re-phase delivery and capital expenditure, reviewing scheme scope and value engineering opportunities. We expect the review to conclude in summer 2018.

Speed Limits: Research

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 17 January 2017 to Question 59048 and pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 122503 on Speed Limits, for what reasons (a) the research commissioned by his Department into the effects of 20 mph speed zones and (b) his Department's report have yet to be published.

Jesse Norman: The research project has been extended to allow for the inclusion of an additional piece of research to compare speed data from 20mph roads with 30mph roads, which will make the evidence base more robust. The research project is expected to be completed, and the final report is expected to be published later this year.

Cycling: Safety

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Highways England designated fund for cycling, safety and integration; and how much of that fund was spent in 2016/17.

Jesse Norman: All schemes delivered though Highways England’s Cycling, Safety and Integration designated fund must demonstrate value for money using an appraisal developed with key stakeholders. This assesses a number of potential benefits such as increased trips and accidents savings. Highways England continues to develop its evaluation process for different designated funds, starting with the Cycling, Safety and Integration designated fund, in order to measure the effectiveness of the projects delivered and ensure that future programmes maximise their benefits. The total budget for the Cycling, Safety and Integration designated fund is £175m until 2020. Of that sum £53.5m had been spent by January 2018 which represents 31% of the total. The Cycling, Safety and Integration designated fund spend for the 2016/17 financial year was £18.1m. The expectation has been that Highways England would develop schemes for this fund in the early years of the first road investment period, and then build them in the later years. The effect of this should be that that more schemes are built in the next two years than in the past two.

Manchester-Sheffield Railway Line

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when construction work is planned to start on Network Rail's Hope Valley Capacity Order.

Joseph Johnson: On 13 February 2018, the Secretary of State announced his decision to provide Network Rail Infrastructure Limited with the legal powers to construct, operate and maintain new passing facilities and associated railway infrastructure on the Hope Valley route between Bamford and Hathersage and at Dore. Network Rail have completed the single option design for the railway infrastructure scheme proposed in the Hope Valley and the timetable for further work on this scheme will be announced in due course.

Driver Information Systems: Mobile Phones

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, What guidance his Department has been issued on drivers using satellite navigational apps on mobile phones whilst driving vehicles.

Jesse Norman: The Department issued guidance “Using a phone or a sat nav when driving” which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

Cycling and Walking

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the next annual update of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government will report regularly to Parliament on the progress it is making in delivering the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, as required by section 21 of the Infrastructure Act 2015. A decision on the timing.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Wind Power

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the production of electricity through community wind projects.

Claire Perry: The Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government leads on, encourages local authorities and neighbourhood planning bodies to set out positive policies to support community-led initiatives for renewable and low carbon energy. The NPPF also encourages authorities to identify opportunities where developments can draw their energy supply from decentralised, renewable or low carbon energy supply systems. We are working with delivery partners to consider how communities wanting renewable projects can be best supported to deliver these cost-effectively. Community wind projects can be supported through the Feed In Tariff (FIT). We have reintroduced FIT pre-accreditation, including an extra six months’ validity period for community energy projects. Additionally the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) provides support to community groups in rural areas for development and implementation of energy projects, including wind. RCEF is jointly funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and is managed on behalf of Government by DEFRA.

Carbon Emissions: Local Government

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) local authorities and (b) communities on the steps that can be taken to meet the Government's targets for carbon emissions.

Claire Perry: The Clean Growth Strategy, published in October 2017, sets out the Government’s ambitious plans for decarbonising the economy through the 2020s. We worked across Whitehall to ensure the Clean Growth Strategy is as robust and ambitious as possible.The joint BEIS and MHCLG office for Cities and Local Growth works closely with Ministers from both departments. BEIS has launched a Local Energy Programme which will support the work of that unit and the excellent work already being achieved by local authorities and community groups.

Cars

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the contribution to the public purse made by kit car sector in each of the last five years.

Richard Harrington: Kit cars are a small sub-sector of the automotive sector, which cannot be isolated using the data sources available.

Geothermal Power

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to offer increased subsidies for the use of geothermal mine water to contribute to the UK’s energy supply.

Claire Perry: The Renewable Heat Incentive is a support scheme designed to help bridge the gap between the cost of fossil fuels and renewable and low carbon heat. The Non-domestic RHI currently provides support to both Geothermal Installations and Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP). Mine water could potentially be used with either of these technologies. The RHI budget has been set until 2020/21, and there are no current plans to change the support available for these technologies.

New Businesses: Telford and Wrekin

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) number and (b) financial value of start-up loans was for small businesses in (i) Telford and Wrekin and (ii) the Telford constituency in the last 12 months.

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to increase the level of access to credit for businesses in the Telford constituency in the last 12 months.

Andrew Griffiths: We are working hard to support businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK, to ensure they can access finance and support to grow and that the right conditions are in place for companies to invest for the long-term. For the 12 month period up to end of September 2017, the Start Up Loans programme provided 30 loans to businesses in Telford & Wrekin totalling over £325,000, of which 20 loans were to businesses in the Telford constituency totalling over £169,000In addition, the Government has funded the provision of tailored advice and support for start-ups and SMEs in each Local Enterprise Partnership area and in Telford this is through The Marches Growth Hub.  Telford constituency is also part of the Midlands Engine. A key part of the Government’s strategy for fuelling growth in the region is the £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), which was launched on 22 February and is a result of close collaboration between the British Business Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and 10 Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). It aims to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands, accelerate economic growth and promote job creation. Finally, my Rt. Hon Friend the Chancellor announced in the Autumn Budget that we are extending the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee to March 2022 and expanding the programme to support up to £500 million of loans per annum.

Energy: Prices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the change in level of the network cost component of household energy bills in each year since 2010.

Claire Perry: The table below outlines the network cost component of the average dual fuel bill from 2013 to 2016. This is the longest period for which there is comparable data for a dual fuel (gas and electricity) bill.These data are published by Ofgem and based on realised costs as reported by the six largest energy companies in their annual Consolidated Segmental Statements, which can be found - https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2018/02/february-bills-prices-profits.pdf YearAverage dual fuel household energy billNetwork cost component2013£1,286£276 (21%)2014£1,190£278 (23%)2015£1,165£279 (24%)2016£1,123£292 (26%)

Fuel Poverty

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the reasons for the change in the level of fuel poverty between 2014 and 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Whether a household is classified as fuel poor depends on the interaction between three key factors: household incomes, household energy efficiency and fuel prices. Between 2014 and 2015 incomes for all groups increased, however the rise for lower income households was relatively small. This may have resulted in some low income households being reclassified as fuel poor in 2015. Furthermore, the number of households classified as fuel poor in 2015 is lower than the peak number of household in 2009.Our primary focus is on reducing the severity of fuel poverty by improving home energy efficiency. The energy efficiency of fuel poor homes is improving with 835,000 fewer E, F or G rated fuel poor homes in 2015 compared to 2010.We are committed to keeping bills down for all households. Last year Ofgem introduced a safeguard tariff, capping the amount suppliers can charge pre-payment meter customers. The safeguard tariff cap was recently extended to those getting the Warm Home Discount so that five million vulnerable people are now protected. We have also just introduced new measures into Parliament on capping energy prices for domestic customers on standard variable or default tariffs by the end of the year that will bring even more benefits to customers.

Job Creation: Coventry South

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking which support job creation schemes in Coventry South constituency.

Andrew Griffiths: Government is supporting local jobs growth and economic development through the £131.84m Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Deal, estimated by the Local Enterprise Partnership to create 7,500 new jobs and support the local area’s aspirations to build on its advanced manufacturing and engineering strengths. The investment programme is already bringing forward key employment sites including the recently opened One Friargate building in Coventry, the first phase in the development of a new business district, and the ambitious regeneration of Coventry City Centre South. The Government has made available £35m funding to unlock a new development in Whitley near Coventry, which will become home to nearly 3,000 highly-skilled engineering and advanced manufacturing jobs.

Maplin and Toys R Us: Insolvency

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to support employees of ToysRUs and Maplin.

Andrew Griffiths: We have mobilised the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus to work with the companies to understand the level of employee support required. This service is tailored to individuals’ needs to help these workers get back into employment as soon as possible.If redundancies are deemed necessary by the administrators, the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service will pay statutory redundancy pay to eligible employees, subject to statutory limits.

Working Hours: EU Law

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is undertaking a review of the Working Time Directive.

Andrew Griffiths: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is not undertaking a review of the Working Time Directive. The European Commission has recently undertaken such a review and the results are available on its website.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

South Africa: Politics and Government

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the South African Government on attacks on farmers of European descent.

Harriett Baldwin: ​We are aware of and concerned about the issue of violent crime in South Africa, including in rural and isolated areas such as farms. Our High Commission in South Africa monitors the situation closely and is in contact with the South African law enforcement agencies regarding safety and security in the country. This includes incidents which have affected British nationals. The South African Government assures us that tackling crime in all its forms is a high priority.​

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts from other UN Security Council member states on the escalation of tensions in Aden.

Alistair Burt: We hold regular discussions with our regional and international partners regarding security and political developments in Yemen. The situation in Aden was discussed during the UN Security Council consultations held on 27 February. We are concerned about the recent outbreaks of violence and call upon all parties to engage in dialogue in pursuit of peace and stability in Southern Yemen.

Yemen: Baha'i Faith

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Iranian Government on the repression of the Baha'i minority in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: ​We are concerned at reports of mistreatment of the Baha'i community by the Houthis in Yemen. We call upon Iran to use its influence with the Houthis to urge that they cease harassment and mistreatment of all religious minorities including the Baha'i. I discussed our human rights concerns with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in London on 21 February.

UN Mission in South Sudan: Finance

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure adequate funding for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK strongly supports the important work being done by the UN Mission in South Sudan to protect civilians, monitor and investigate human rights violations, create conducive conditions for humanitarian access, and support the peace agreement. The UK works through the UN Security Council and the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly to ensure UN peacekeeping missions are well planned, resourced, and represent good value for money. The UK pays 5.78 per cent towards UN peacekeeping mission budgets through its UN assessed contributions and is the sixth largest contributor. In financial year 2017-18, the UK share of the cost of the mission in South Sudan through its assessed contribution was £40.8 million.

South Sudan: Humanitarian Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK Government financial support in South Sudan for civil society participants in the High-Level Revitalisation Forum continues during the third round of negotiations.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK welcomes the involvement of representatives from South Sudanese civil society in the first and second rounds of the High Level Revitalisation Forum. Civil society organisations have an important role to play in South Sudan by holding the Government and others to account.We will continue to support civil society peacebuilding initiatives. This includes continuing to provide funding to the South Sudanese Council of Churches, enabling the Council to lead mediation and reconciliation efforts between national-level leaders who have the power to stop the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.

South Sudan: Humanitarian Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps is his Department taking to encourage the Government of South Sudan to reduce the cost of a work permit for foreign humanitarian workers.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK frequently engages South Sudan’s leaders at the highest level to make clear that both bureaucratic and physical obstacles to the delivery of lifesaving aid must cease immediately. As a direct result of lobbying, the South Sudanese Ministry of Labour announced on 27 February that it intends to reduce work permit fees for foreign workers by 50 per cent. We are awaiting confirmation that this has been implemented. It is a positive step, but it does not go far enough. Fees of $2,000 per person are still unacceptably high. Alongside our international partners, we will continue to call for a return to fair and consistent permit fees.

Nabeel Rajab

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Bahraini authorities on the sentencing of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab.

Alistair Burt: ​We have raised the case of Nabeel Rajab at senior levels with the Government of Bahrain. My statement of 21 February made clear my concerns at the five-year sentence handed to Mr Rajab in addition to the two year sentence he received in 2017. I understand that Mr Rajab has a right of appeal in this case and we will continue to closely monitor proceedings.

Iraq: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Iraq on protecting freedom of religious belief for refugees in that country.

Alistair Burt: ​The UK is committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief across Iraq. We regularly urge the Government of Iraq, at both official and ministerial levels, to uphold those rights and do everything possible to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, including refugees from religious minority communities. The Prime Minister reinforced this message with Prime Minister Abadi during her visit to Iraq in November 2017 and our Embassy in Baghdad and Consulate-General in Erbil do so regularly with Iraqi and Kurdish officials. We also urge humanitarian partners to ensure that the concerns of refugees, including those from religious minorities, are listened to and taken into account. During a recent visit to Iraq, the Department for International Development's Middle East and North Africa Director met several UN agencies and urged them to provide better data and reporting on their engagement with minorities.

Kenya: Refugees

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is providing to LGBT Kakuma refugees abroad.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK supports the delivery of essential services, including health and food assistance, at the Kakuma Camp in Kenya to benefit all refugees. The UK funds assistance through the Support for Protection and Assistance of Refugees in Kenya programme. The programme, worth £35m, assists around 8,000 refugees with livelihoods opportunities and supports the voluntarily return of refugees to their countries of origin. The programme also ensures that survivors of sexual and gender based violence receive appropriate medical care.

Attorney General

Fraud

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Attorney General, whether any Shawcross exercises have been conducted into (a) concluded and (b) extant Serious Fraud Office cases in each of the past six years.

Jeremy Wright: It is my department’s usual policy not to comment on any live cases. In the six years up until the end of 2017, there had been no Shawcross exercises in relation to any concluded SFO cases.

Department of Health and Social Care

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the amount of time spent on managing existing contracts by clinical commissioning group commissioners.

Steve Brine: Information on the amount of time spent on managing existing contracts by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is not held centrally. CCGs are independent statutory bodies responsible and accountable for the management of their contracts. NHS England does not monitor CCG contracts; NHS England and NHS Improvement monitor actual performance of CCGs, not contracts. A range of contract continuous improvement and capability enhancement initiatives are being developed as a pan–Departmental and arm’s length bodies collaborative programme to drive ongoing commercial improvements and benefits across the health family.

Coroners: Nottinghamshire

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department took as a result of the Regulation 28: Report to Prevent Future Deaths notice issued by the Coroner Area of Nottinghamshire to his Department on 26 May 2016.

Stephen Barclay: East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust outlined a range of actions in the response to the Regulation 28 report including:- the agreement of an increased funding settlement to £152.5 million for 2016/17 with commissioners (an increase of £9.2 million on 2014/15), with an additional £2.4 million being paid to cover additional costs incurred as a result of hospital handover delays;- actions to reduce staff turnover; and- work with local acute hospitals to reduce the impact of patient handover delays. NHS Improvement, commissioners and the Care Quality Commission continue to work with the Trust to improve its response time performance. This package of support includes a formal demand and capacity review, which is currently underway. This will help to inform commissioners’ approach to funding the Trust in 2018/19 to ensure it has the appropriate level of resource to meet the new national performance standards.

Junior Doctors: Disclosure of Information

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the protections for whistleblowing by junior doctors.

Stephen Barclay: We want to ensure that the National Health Service is the safest and most transparent healthcare system in the world. To achieve this, individuals must feel safe to speak up, raise concerns and feel confident that action is taken. In September 2016, the British Medical Association (BMA) agreed legally binding protections with Health Education England (HEE) for junior doctors who raise concerns in the workplace. This agreement, negotiated with HEE, NHS Employers and the Department, ensures that junior doctors will have legal protection if they are subjected to detrimental treatment by HEE as a result of whistleblowing and continues to apply for the duration of the training placement therefore protecting all applicable junior doctors in England. HEE is actively promoting this agreement to employers and understands that this agreement has been welcomed by junior doctors and the BMA, who recognise that this will protect doctors.

Joint Committee On Vaccination and Immunisation

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what days the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation met in each of the last three years; when the Joint Committee plans to meet in the next two years; at which meetings the Joint Committee discussed gender neutral HPV vaccinations; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) boys and (b) men who remain unprotected against HPV-caused cancers.

Steve Brine: The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI) meets on the first Wednesday of February, June and October. The Committee held an extraordinary meeting in August 2016 to discuss influenza. There are no plans to change the current meeting schedule. Gender neutral human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination was discussed by JCVI in February and October 2015, June 2016 and October, June and February 2017. There is no estimate of the number of boys/men who remain unprotected. The indirect protection to males afforded by the adolescent girls HPV programme is considered substantial. JCVI’s Interim Statement on Extending HPV vaccination to adolescent boys is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jcvi-statement-extending-the-hpv-vaccination-programme The HPV programme for men who have sex with men (MSM), who receive little indirect protection from the girls programme, aims to protect MSM considered at highest risk from HPV infection and disease. The estimated impact and cost-effectiveness of the HPV MSM programme is available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5404831/pdf/ciw845.pdf

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the UK remaining part of the European Health Insurance Card after the UK leaves the EU.

Stephen Barclay: The Department is aware of the benefits of the existing reciprocal healthcare arrangements such as the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), in ensuring United Kingdom-insured residents have access to healthcare in the European Union/European Economic Area countries and Switzerland. The UK Government has therefore made clear in the course of the negotiations that it wishes to see the existing reciprocal healthcare arrangements, including the EHIC scheme, continued after the UK leaves the EU.

Pancreatic Cancer: Mortality Rates

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve the survival rates of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Steve Brine: National Health Service services for pancreatic cancer have been significantly improved in recent years. This includes clearer diagnostic pathways; decision making by specialist multi-disciplinary teams; and the centralisation of pancreas surgery within specialist teams. Last month the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published their clinical guideline on ‘Pancreatic cancer: diagnosis and management in adults’. It provides guidance on several different aspects of the diagnosis and management of pancreatic cancer, including ensuring quicker and more accurate diagnosis, referral to specialist pancreatic multidisciplinary teams, pain, nutritional and surgical management and psychological support. In addition, NHS England has published a service specification for pancreatic cancer which clearly defines what it expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective pancreatic cancer services. This service specification has been developed by specialised clinicians, commissioners, expert patients and public health representatives to describe core and developmental service standards. The full service specification can be found on our website and accessed via the following link: http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/a02-cncr-panc.pdf

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure veterans seeking mental health support are seen within the 18 week NHS target.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Up to 30,000 veterans per year use their locally commissioned National Health Service mental services and have very similar rates of outcomes and access as the general population, with 88% seen within six weeks and 98% seen within 18 weeks. In addition, since April 2017, as part of the NHS Five Year Forward View, the NHS has commissioned and paid for an additional Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS), which supports ex-Armed Forces veterans and service personnel approaching discharge. It aims to recognise and tackle early signs of mental health difficulties, and includes substance misuse prevention and social support. It also includes case management of patients which may involve face to face assessments and clinical appointments, or referrals to other services. This service aims to provide an assessment within 14 days from the date of referral and a clinical appointment within 28 days from the date of referral and may be provided by NHS or charity providers (who can also provide their own services). The TILS service received nearly 1,700 referrals in its first eight months. In April 2018, NHS England will also launch the Veterans Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (CTS). This will build on the service provided by TILS and will focus on complex cases that have not been resolved earlier in the care pathway. As the CTS patients will have already been prioritised by TILS, they will be seen according to clinical need; CTS has a target to offer initial appointments within 10 working days from receiving the referral.

General Medical Council: Finance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) review the funding process for the General Medical Council whereby doctors have to pay a fee to register with the organisation and (b) consider making the organisation taxpayer-funded.

Stephen Barclay: The Government has no plans to review the funding process for the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC is the independent regulator of medical doctors in the United Kingdom and sets standards for doctors, provides support to achieve them and takes action when they are not met. Government guidance is clear that payments for licences awarded by statutory regulators are justified in the wider public interest, not because they provide a direct beneficial service to those who pay them. It is right that the cost of regulation is met by those professionals who are regulated.

Drugs: Misuse

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were admitted to hospitals with (a) drug and (b) opioid overdoses in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: Hospital admissions data for the number of inpatients treated for a drug or opioid overdose is not available, as a person may have more than one admission within the period and data collected by NHS Digital is unable to specify drug overdoses within the diagnosis classification. Data is instead collected on finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of poisoning and toxic effect; figures for the financial years between 2007-08 and 2016-17 are provided in the attached tables. A FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider, which are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Further information about hospital admissions in England for poisoning by illicit drugs can be found in the following Lifestyles publication (Tables 1 and 5): http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30210



PQ129596 table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 40.49 KB)

NHS Trusts: Food Poisoning

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many notifiable cases of food poisoning there have been by NHS trust in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: Clinicians are required to formally notify cases of suspected food poisoning to Public Health England under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010. The total number of formally notified cases of food poisoning in England and Wales between 2015 and 2017 was 40,076. Of these, 15,599 were reported in 2015, 13,064 in 2016 and 11,413 in 2017. Data are not collected in the format requested.

NHS Trusts: Subsidiary Companies

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS trusts (a) have set up a subsidiary company or (b) are in the process of setting up a subsidiary company; which such trusts have such companies; and what those companies are.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS trusts that set up subsidiary companies are able to transfer (a) buildings and (b) other assets to those companies.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice his Department offers to NHS trusts seeking to set up subsidiary companies on (a) their right to access private funding including private patient income, (b) their obligation to pay capital charges on any asset owned and (c) access to NHS loans.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department gives to NHS trusts seeking to set up subsidiary companies on submitting proposals to establish such companies to the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committees for examination.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Improvement has informed the Department that they ask foundation trusts, to report how many subsidiaries have been consolidated into their accounts. In returns received by NHS Improvement for the year ended 31 March 2017, foundation trusts reported 41 consolidated subsidiaries (excluding any consolidated National Health Service charitable funds). Information on the number of NHS trusts that have set up or are in the process of setting up subsidiary companies is not collected centrally. NHS trusts do not have an express statutory power to form or participate in ownership of a company other than for income generation purposes. NHS organisations have a duty to operate efficiently and economically and are responsible for putting in place the most effective structures they need to deliver services to their patients within available resources. Both the Department and NHS Improvement have not provided any advice to trusts seeking to set up subsidiary companies on their right to access private funding including patient income. The Secretary of State requires that NHS providers pay a Public Dividend Capital dividend based on a charge of 3.5% of actual average relevant net assets, including subsidiaries, during the financial year as determined in the draft/unaudited accounts submitted to NHS Improvement/the Department. The Secretary of State has the power under the Health and Medicines Act 1988, as invoked by Sch. 4 Para. 20 of the NHS Act 2006 to provide loans. However, in practice no loans have been provided to subsidiary companies of trusts. Local Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committees are consulted about service changes to their local NHS. No guidance has been issued to trusts who are seeking to set up subsidiary companies on submitting proposals to establish such companies to Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committees for examination.

Parkinson's Disease: Mental Health Services

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide mental health support for people with Parkinson's disease who experience (a) anxiety and (b) depression; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The new updated guideline on Parkinson’s disease published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in July 2017 includes recommendations on managing depression in Parkinson’s in line with its own best practice guidance on depression in people with chronic health problems. In addition, NHS England commissions the specialised neurological care that people with Parkinson’s disease may need, and it has set out that such specialised care should include access to psychologists to manage symptoms like anxiety and depression. More information on the NICE guidance and NHS England’s neurosciences services can be found at the following links: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71 www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-d/d04/ NHS England is also working with the Neurological Alliance in support of the new national Neurology Advisory Group, which is considering ways to reduce variation and drive improvement in neurological care. This includes looking at issues such as psychological support, which were raised in the report ‘Parity of esteem for people affected by neurological conditions: meeting the emotional, cognitive & mental health needs of neurology patients’, published by the Neurological Alliance on 5 July 2017. Finally, as set out in ‘Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health’, published in July 2016, the expansion of psychological therapies services will require building skills and capacity in the workforce. This includes: top-up training in new competencies for long-term conditions (relevant to people with neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s, and other long term health problems) and medically unexplained symptoms for current staff; targeted training in working with older people; and training new staff to increase overall capacity – such as the 3,000 additional mental health therapists located in primary care.

Obesity: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Inter-Ministerial Group for Healthy Living plans to assess the correlation between obesity in children and poverty.

Steve Brine: The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on Healthy Living will explore ways of promoting healthy living for all, to help reduce inequalities in health. The IMG will meet for the first time in early 2018 and will determine its future work plan in due course.

Pneumococcal Diseases: Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 127076, how many stakeholders the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation consulted on its advice to implement a revised schedule for the infant pneumococcal vaccination programme.

Steve Brine: As part of a stakeholder consultation on the childhood pneumococcal vaccination schedule, responses were sought from Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Meningitis Now, and the Meningitis Research Foundation. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation discussed the consultation responses at its meeting on 7 February and is continuing to consult on and review its advice.

Pneumococcal Diseases: Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 127076, if he will request that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation carry out a public consultation on its advice to implement a revised schedule for the infant pneumococcal vaccination programme.

Steve Brine: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provides independent expert advice on the United Kingdom immunisation programme. It bases its recommendations on review of a wide range of scientific and other evidence, including from the published literature, and commissioned studies such as independent analyses of vaccine effectiveness and cost effectiveness. It can consult with stakeholders on its advice when it deems this necessary. In January, the JCVI commenced a short, focused stakeholder consultation on its proposed advice about a change to the UK’s childhood pneumococcal conjugate vaccine schedule. The JCVI is currently consulting on and reviewing its advice and will agree its final advice at a future Committee meeting. The JCVI is best placed to identify who to consult in order to obtain evidence to inform its advice.

Pneumococcal Diseases: Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 127076, whether his Department has made an assessment of the compliance of the consultation carried out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation with the Cabinet Office’s guidance on consultation principles; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The Cabinet Office’s guidance “Consultation Principles 2016”, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consultation-principles-guidance It provides guidance to government departments on conducting consultations. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is not a Government department, it is an independent Departmental Expert Committee. The JCVI’s Code of Practice allows it to decide to consult stakeholders who submitted evidence on its interim advice for a short period before reaching a final position. The JCVI’s advice is used by the Government to inform, develop and make evidence-based policy relating to the United Kingdom’s vaccination programmes. The JCVI is best placed to carry out consultation about the evidence upon which it bases its advice and to identify who to consult in order to inform this. The JCVI is currently consulting on and reviewing its proposed advice about a change to the UK’s childhood pneumococcal conjugate vaccine schedule. It will agree its final advice at a future Committee meeting after considering consultation responses.

Alcoholic Drinks: Dementia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance the NHS provides on the connection between heavy consumption of alcohol and the onset of dementia.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidelines Dementia, disability and frailty in later life – mid-life approaches to delay or prevent onset in October 2015. This emphasises the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle, including reducing alcohol intake and the impact this can have on preventing the onset of dementia. The guideline is available at: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng16

Measles

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to reduce the incidence of measles.

Steve Brine: In 2017, the World Health Organization confirmed that the United Kingdom had eliminated measles; measles is no longer endemic to the UK. Public Health England has convened a multi-stakeholder group to develop a UK-wide strategy to ensure elimination is sustained. The strategy seeks to action four areas: achieving and sustaining very high coverage (more than or equal to 95%) of two doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine through the routine childhood immunisation programme; providing opportunities for MMR catch-up to all population groups at risk for and susceptible to measles and/or rubella; rigorous case investigation and laboratory confirmation of suspected sporadic cases and outbreaks and improving the availability and use of high-quality, evidence-based information for health professionals and the public on measles and MMR.

NHS: Pest Control

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the better control of vermin and pests on the NHS estate.

Stephen Barclay: Decisions about how cleaning is managed and delivered on the National Health Service estate in England are made locally. Hospitals must have an effective local pest control policy to ensure that buildings are kept clean and safe for patients. Patient satisfaction with the cleanliness of hospital wards, toilets and bathrooms is measured via the Care Quality Commission’s in-patient and accident and emergency department surveys. Cleanliness is also measured via Patient Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE). The aim of PLACE is to provide a snapshot of how an organisation is performing against a range of non-clinical activities that impact on the patient experience of care. The assessment of cleanliness covers all items commonly found in healthcare premises including patient equipment; baths, toilets and showers; furniture and other fixtures and fittings.

Skin Cancer: Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the skin cancer jab to become available through the NHS.

Steve Brine: There are no plans to introduce a skin cancer jab on the National Health Service. It is for local NHS commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund new treatments, taking into account National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, available evidence and individual patient’s clinical circumstances. The future availability of any new or novel treatments would be subject to large scale clinical trials demonstrating the safety and efficacy of the treatment approach and subsequent assessments of its cost effectiveness for routine use.

Haematological Cancer: Mental Health Services

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide mental health support to people diagnosed with haematological cancer.

Steve Brine: Haematological cancer patients are able to access psychosocial mental health services provided for the wider group of cancer patients, usually in cancer centres, which provide multi-disciplinary psychological assessment and support as part of the cancer team. This support is offered from the point of diagnosis and in addition to trained members of the multi-disciplinary team, specialist support may be provided by a clinical psychologist or liaison psychiatrist.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Accelerate, Coordination, and Evaluation programme in delivering earlier diagnosis rates for cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The Accelerate, Coordinate and Evaluate programme has already produced evaluations for Wave 1 of the project which are available on its website below. The final report with the Wave 2 pilots will be published in December 2018.http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/diagnosis/ace-programme/ace-programme-projects

Haematological Cancer: Nurses

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many haematological cancer patients have access to a clinical nurse specialist.

Steve Brine: NHS England does not hold information about numbers of patients with access to a Clinical Nurse Specialist. In the 2016 national cancer patient experience survey, 90% of the 72,788 respondents said that they were given the name of a Clinical Nurse Specialist who would support them through their treatment.

NHS: Buildings

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made in negotiations to revise the NHS England Premises Costs Directions; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The negotiations, between NHS England and the General Practitioners’ Committee of the British Medical Association, on revisions to the NHS Premises Costs Directions have recently concluded. The Department is currently preparing revised Directions.

Midwives: Resignations

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many midwives left the profession (a) by age and in each year and (b) in total since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not collected by the Department. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and is responsible for nurse and midwifery registration. The NMC has confirmed that it holds information about midwives leaving its register but not on midwives leaving their profession.

NHS 111: Ambulance Services

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the reasons are for the increased number of ambulance dispatches from NHS111.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a policy in place for dispatching ambulances from NHS 111.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the regional variations in the numbers of ambulance dispatches from NHS 111; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: The proportion of NHS111 triaged calls that result in an ambulance dispatch in the last 12 months has been relatively stable for England, with a 0.1% reduction between January 2017 and January 2018. The public should call 999 for life threatening emergencies that require an immediate response. However, if a call to NHS 111 is assessed as being a medical emergency, the service is able to dispatch an ambulance directly, and provide first aid advice to the caller until the paramedics arrive, without the need to transfer the call, or for the caller to repeat information. NHS England outlined the aims and objectives of the NHS 111 service, including the management of calls requiring an ambulance, in the National Service Specification for Integrated Urgent Care published in August 2017. NHS England collects and publishes the NHS 111 Minimum Data Set. Published information includes a statistical release summarising the most recent data and a range of supplementary data files containing information from 2010 to the most recent month. Data are published at a range of geographical levels, including NHS111 Contract Service Areas, NHS111 Providers, NHS England regions and England. Data are available on the NHS England website: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/nhs-111-minimum-data-set/nhs-111-minimum-data-set-2017-18

Hospitals: Parking

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on hospitals charging blue badge holders for parking.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of hospitals charging blue badge holders for parking.

Stephen Barclay: The Department published National Health Service patient, visitor and staff car parking principles on 23 August 2014. The principles state that concessions, including free or reduced charges or caps, should be available for disabled people, including people with temporary disabilities as well as Blue Badge holders. As in other settings, the access the Blue Badge Scheme provides does not preclude the making of some level of charge in some cases. The NHS itself is responsible for ensuring that charges are fairly applied. Patients, visitors and staff who have problems with car parking should therefore contact the NHS organisation which runs the car park. On concessions, the principles are as follows;Concessions including free or reduced charges or caps should be available for the following groups:- disabled people;- frequent outpatient attenders;- visitors with relatives who are gravely ill, or carers of such people;- visitors to relatives who have an extended stay in hospital, or carers of such people;- carers of people in the above groups where appropriate; and- staff working shifts that mean public transport cannot be used. NHS car parking data including the number of hospitals charging for disabled parking is collected annually through Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC). All ERIC data is published at: http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/ERIC.asp The latest available data for 2016-17 sets out that 132 hospitals sites in England charge for disabled parking.

Department of Health and Social Care: Recruitment

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what external recruitment agencies are used by his Department’s non-departmental public bodies.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department’s non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) have provided the attached information. NDPBs are able to procure staff from the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Non-Medical Non Clinical framework for permanent and temporary workers and the CCS Contingent Labour One framework for temporary workers. The two frameworks are not mandated for NDPBs to use, and are able to use alternative routes to procure staff.



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South Tyneside Hospital

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will undertake a review of the decision made by Sunderland and South Tyneside clinical commissioning groups to downgrade South Tyneside District Hospital.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on healthcare provision in South Tyneside of the decision to move acute NHS services out of South Tyneside.

Stephen Barclay: Decisions on configuration are best taken by the local National Health Service, who can best assess how to meet the needs of people in their area. For any significant system reconfiguration, we expect all local parts of the system to be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly — it is vital that people can shape the future of their local services. All significant service change is subject to a full public consultation and proposals must meet the government’s four reconfiguration tests. These are support from clinical commissioners, clarity on the clinical evidence base, robust patient and public engagement and support for patient choice. There is additional NHS England guidance (fifth test) which means that proposed service reconfigurations should be tested for their impact on overall bed numbers in the area. Local authorities play a key role in ensuring the democratic accountability of local health services, through their statutory oversight and scrutiny committees. Should such a committee remain unsatisfied with the handling of a proposed service change, one of their options is to ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to consider undertaking his own review.

Patients: Transport

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many contracts for delivering non-emergency transport services have been (a) cancelled, (b) handed back to the Clinical Commissioning Groups and (c) withdrawn from the provider for poor performance in the last two years for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: This information is not held centrally. The provision of non-emergency patient transport services is a matter for local National Health Service commissioners.

Oral Tobacco

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the government will publish any evidence it has received over the last three years that supports the continuing ban on the oral nicotine product snus.

Steve Brine: The oral nicotine product snus was originally banned under Directive 92/41/EEC. This ban was reaffirmed in 2001 and most recently in the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU, implemented in the United Kingdom by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. The Department has received a number of representations concerning snus over recent years. The makers of snus, Swedish Match, have challenged the legality of the ban on snus and this matter is currently before the European Court of Justice; as such, the strength of the evidence for or against the ban is a matter for the Court and the UK awaits the outcome of that case.

Orthopaedics: Diabetes

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) diabetes-related limb removal procedures and (b) non-diabetes-related limb removal procedures took place in each of the last 10 years.

Steve Brine: NHS Digital was able to provide the following data that details the count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) with a primary diagnosis of diabetes and a main procedure of amputation, for the financial years between 2007-08 and 2016-17. Due to clinical coding limitations, NHS Digital was unable to provide data for non-diabetes related limb removal procedures that took place in each of the last 10 years as it is not possible to determine if an amputation is not related to the diagnosis of diabetes in some way. YearFCEs2007-082,0012008-092,0702009-102,0702010-112,2382011-122,2532012-131,6862013-141,5442014-151,6822015-161,7902016-172,042Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital Note: A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.

Joint Replacements

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that Clinical Commissioning Groups do not impose restrictions on access to hip and knee surgery based on a patient's level of pain.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England provides guidance to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which are primarily responsible for commissioning services to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population, and are based on the available evidence. CCGs should take national guidelines into account as they take commissioning decisions. It is the role of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England, (alongside other arm’s length bodies) to issue guidance to CCGs, based on the latest evidence and expertise.

Mental Health Services

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health (a) therapists and (b) supervisors worked in the NHS in each year between 2010 and 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Digital provides workforce statistics and mental health supervisors are not coded in the Electronic Staff Record occupation code manual, therefore we are unable to provide data for mental health supervisors. The following table shows mental health therapists as defined by care setting and level in the National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England as at 30 September each specified year and latest data as at 31 October 2017, full time equivalent (FTE). FTE Mental Health TherapistsSeptember-20108,057September-20118,394September-20128,926September-20139,530September-201410,057September-201510,495September-201611,106September-201711,608October-201711,977 Source: Provisional NHS Hospital and Community Health Service monthly workforce statistics, NHS Digital Note: Mental health therapists are defined as the staff groups working in clinical psychology, including Consultant Therapist/Scientist, Manager, Scientist, Technician, and the staff groups working in Psychotherapy, including consultant Therapist/Scientist, manager, Therapist and Scientist.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 16 of Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper, published by his Department on 4 March 2016, what estimate he has made of the number of children and young people who were unable to receive treatment due to capacity issues in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not hold data on the reasons why children and young people do not receive treatment in National Health Service-funded children and young people’s mental health services. There are a range of reasons, other than issues with capacity, why children and young people may not access treatment through NHS mental health services (for example, children and young people may not benefit from specialist services while self-help or accessing support in schools might be more beneficial).

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 27 of Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper, published by his Department on 4 March 2016, what proportion of patients who were (a) young people and (b) children started urgent treatment within one week in each quarter of (i) 2010-2011, (ii) 2011-2012, (iii) 2012-2013, (iv) 2013-2014, (v) 2014-2015, (vi) 2015-2016, (vii) 2016-2017 and (viii) 2017-2018.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS) has included data regarding children and young people’s mental health since January 2016. Available information on the proportion of children and young people starting urgent treatment is shown in the table below. The data was not collected before January 2016. Children and Young People (CYP) Waiting Time Target for Eating Disorder ServicesCYP Waiting Time Target for Eating Disorder Services2016/172017/18Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3% of CYP starting treatment for an urgent case within one week against a target of 95%64.9%58%67.2%68.7%73.3%71%76.9%% of CYP starting treatment for routine care within four weeks against a target of 95%65.1%67.5%79%78.9%78.7%82.4%83.1%Source: Unify2 data is available quarterly starting from Quarter 1 in 2016/17 https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cyped-waiting-times/ Note: The data collection is still experimental, with a focus on data quality and completion. Anticipating poor quality data in the early stages of the MHSDS, NHS England implemented an interim data collection via Unify2 that focused on the referral to treatment waiting time element of the CYP with an Eating Disorder evidence based care pathway. This interim measure enabled collection of data and is helping to verify and improve the quality of statistics derived from the MHSDS. The publicly available Mental Health Five Year Forward View Dashboard also reports against access and waiting times for CYP on eating disorders. The dashboard captures this range of data at a local clinical commissioning group, Sustainability and Transformation Partnership and national level and is available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/mental-health-five-year-forward-view-dashboard/

Mental Health Services: Children

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper, published by his Department on 4 March 2016, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the projection that it will take 10 years to roll out mental health support teams; and what assessment has he made of the potential effect that timescale would have on the children who will not have access to that support during that time.

Jackie Doyle-Price: As set out in the impact assessment which was published alongside the Green Paper, we have modelled a linear 10 year timeline to full rollout of the mental health support teams. However, this may be altered in the light of the evaluation of the trailblazers. This evaluation will inform the later phases of the national rollout. The proposal to create new mental health support teams, comprising a sizeable new workforce, is ambitious. We want to learn what works best as we implement the proposals to ensure further roll-out is done as effectively as possible. While we roll out the mental health support teams, children and young people will continue to be able to access the wider offer of improved mental health services as set out in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health; the Green Paper forms one part of the wider transformation of services which is already underway.

Electronic Cigarettes

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has assessed the effect of vaping on second-hand smoke inhalers; and what steps his Department is considering to tackle those potential effects.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) published its most recent evidence review on e-cigarettes and novel tobacco products on 6 February this year. PHE concluded that “to date there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders.” The Department will continue to work with PHE to monitor the evidence base around e-cigarettes. In the Tobacco Control Plan, published in July 2017, PHE committed to update their evidence report on e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine delivery systems annually until the end of the Parliament in 2022.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with local authorities in order to estimate the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government recognises the pressures these liabilities are placing on providers of social care, and we are exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector. This includes engaging with stakeholders such as the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services. The Government has commissioned market analysis to assess the impact on the sector, however this forms part of the evidence base that is being used to assess options and is subject to further analysis and refinement.

Hospitals: Standards

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money NHS hospitals have been fined for not reaching targets in the last five financial years.

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money NHS hospitals have been fined for not reaching the target of 95% of people being seen in A&E in four hours in the last five financial years.

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money NHS hospitals have been fined for failing to treat a patient on the non-urgent referral-to-treatment waiting list within 18 weeks in the last five financial years.

Stephen Barclay: Providers of National Health Service-funded healthcare services are expected to meet a range of waiting time standards and other operational standards and quality requirements, in order to deliver the rights and pledges in the NHS Constitution and to achieve other national priorities. These requirements are set out in the NHS Standard Contract, which is used by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for all contracts with hospital providers of NHS healthcare services. The Contract sets out the consequences of breaches of the waiting time standards and other requirements. In many cases, this consequence is in the form of a financial sanction. However, since April 2016, the operation of certain contractual sanctions for reduced performance against waiting time standards, including four hour and 12 hour waits in accident and emergency (A&E) and the Referral to Treatment 18 week incomplete pathways standard has been suspended where a provider is receiving funding from the national Sustainability and Transformation Fund (STF) and meets certain other specified conditions. The overall effect is that, in 2017/18, the Contract sanctions for A&E performance are not being applied to the majority of NHS hospitals – only to a very small minority which refused the offer of funding from the STF and the associated conditions. Since 2015/16, NHS Improvement has published a high level summary of this information in their Quarterly reports, the latest of which is for Quarter 3 of 2017/18 and is available at the following link: https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/quarterly-performance-nhs-provider-sector-quarter-3-201718/

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the Government plans to provide to support care providers in funding the (a) historical capital costs and (b) ongoing revenue costs of complying with the recent tribunal ruling on sleep-in payments and the national minimum wage.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 February 2018 to Question 128062.

Department of Health and Social Care: Carillion

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which of his Department's contracts with Carillion since January 2016 were done with Open Book Contract Management.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department holds no contracts directly with Carillion. Two National Health Service trusts have awarded contracts to Carillion since January 2016. NHS trusts are individually accountable and responsible for the procurement and management of their contracts and this information is not held centrally.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2018 to Question 128964 on social services: national minimum wage, what the timescale is for his Department's further market analysis to assess the impact on the social care sector nationally; and if he publish that analysis and make copies of it available in the Library.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government is committed to ensuring that any potential impact on the social care sector is minimised, in order to guarantee that vulnerable adults continue to receive the sleep-in support they require. The Government has commissioned a second phase of market analysis due to be completed in April. However, this will subject to further analysis and consequently there is no timetable for publication.

NHS Trusts: Migrant Workers

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of immigration caps on the ability of NHS Trusts to recruit staff from non-EU countries.

Stephen Barclay: The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the National Health Service and adult social care. We work across Government to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver safe, high quality, efficient services on which patients rely. We are working closely with the Home Office who will continue to monitor the operation of the Tier 2 visa route to ensure it attracts the best and brightest migrants.

Mental Illness: Finance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of debt and financial difficulty on recovery rates of people with mental health problems.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We know that mental health services, including Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services, may signpost patients to debt advice services as part of their care. General practitioner (GP) practices would also signpost patients to debt advice services as part of their care and some practices have arrangements in place with local Citizens Advice Bureaux and debt advice services to provide outreach support in primary care. In January 2017, my Rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced the Government would review the practice of GPs charging patients experiencing debt issues to complete Mental Health Evidence Forms when they require medical evidence for their creditors. The Department is working with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute and a range of stakeholders from the financial and debt advice sectors and the British Medical Association to undertake the review. The Government recognises the impact that debt may have on mental health and wellbeing and the difficulties that may be experienced by people with mental health problems in managing their debt. The review has also considered the impact of debt and financial difficulties on people with mental health problems, including the potential impact on recovery.

Mental Illness: Finance

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to people experiencing mental health difficulties to help them manage their personal finances.

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of debt and financial difficulty on recovery rates of people mental health problems.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We know that mental health services, including Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services, may signpost patients to debt advice services as part of their care. General Practitioner (GP) practices would also signpost patients to debt advice services as part of their care and some practices have arrangements in place with local Citizens Advice Bureaux and debt advice services to provide outreach support in primary care. In January 2017, my Rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced the Government would review the practice of GPs charging patients experiencing debt issues to complete Mental Health Evidence Forms when they require medical evidence for their creditors. The Department is working with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute and a range of stakeholders from the financial and debt advice sectors and the British Medical Association to undertake the review. The Government recognises the impact that debt may have on mental health and wellbeing and the difficulties that may be experienced by people with mental health problems in managing their debt. The review has also considered the impact of debt and financial difficulties on people with mental health problems, including the potential impact on recovery.

Breast Cancer

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on the timetable for the introduction of Herceptin (trastuzumab) biosimilars for use in the NHS.

Steve Brine: The Department has had no such discussions. We are informed by NHS England that discussions with biosimilar companies are ongoing and, as of yet, have no definitive date for launch of any of the biosimilar trastuzumab products. Once it is known when companies are likely to launch, NHS England can then look at a timetable for implementation.

Department for International Development

Global Partnership for Education

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, for what reason her Department has allocated to the Global Partnership for Education less than the £381 million over the next three years recommended in the First Report of the International Development Committee, DFID's work on education: Leaving no one behind?, HC 367, published on 21 November 2017.

Harriett Baldwin: I refer the Hon Gentleman to the Written Answer I provided on 28 February 2018 to PQ 128969.

Ethical Trading Initiative

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to encourage businesses to comply with the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code.

Harriett Baldwin: Promoting jobs where workers’ rights are upheld, living wages are paid, and they are free from exploitation, is fundamental for alleviating poverty. The Ethical Trading Initiative’s Base Code is an important standard for companies to aim for, which is why DFID has provided ETI with a £5.1M grant and is encouraging its suppliers to sign up to it.

Department for International Development: Business Interests

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which members of her Department's board are responsible for ensuring the proper application of the business appointment rules for former Ministers and senior civil servants.

Harriett Baldwin: Approval for Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Directors General are managed through ACOBA (Advisory Committee on Business Appointments).Business Appointment Rules Applications below DG level (including other SCS) are reviewed by the individual’s operational senior management team. Therefore every individual on DFID Board has responsibility that their senior management teams are demonstrating appropriate diligence when considering applications.Completed applications are reviewed by HR to ensure appropriate application has been followed and consideration given. HR provides final sign-off. In that respect final responsibility rests with DG for Finance and Corporate Performance.

Yemen: Overseas Aid

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the proportion of UK humanitarian aid to Yemen which has reached its intended beneficiaries in each of the last three years.

Alistair Burt: DFID has rigorous systems in place to ensure that all our aid in Yemen meets its intended beneficiaries. DFID channels funds through UN agencies and NGOs who have been on the ground for many years in Yemen, have good access and a strong track record of delivering and monitoring assistance in difficult environments. Officials regularly monitor and review programmes to ensure they are delivering results and that no aid is diverted or misused.DFID applies a rigorous process of due diligence, under which partners must demonstrate accountable, transparent governance structures and sound financial procedures before funding is provided. DFID contracts independent monitoring experts to verify delivery at project sites including through photographs and interviews with direct beneficiaries.

Yemen: International Assistance

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent estimate she has made of the proportion of humanitarian assistance entering Yemen through Hodeidah port in the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The northern ports of Hodeidah and Saleef play a critical role in importing 80% of Yemen’s humanitarian and commercial supplies, including food, fuel and medicine.The Secretary of State for International Development has been clear that all parties must allow full and unhindered access throughout Yemen, including through Hodeidah and Saleef ports. The UK is providing £205 million of aid support Yemen for the financial year 2017/8, focused on lifesaving humanitarian aid.

South Sudan: Famine

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps she has taken to help prevent a famine in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: South Sudan is experiencing record levels of food insecurity as a result of the ongoing conflict. To prevent famine, UK Aid is working with partners like the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Humanitarian Air Service to get food and nutrition supplies to key locations across the country – by truck, helicopter or barge. With support from the UK and other international donors, so far this year WFP has reached almost 1.6 million people with a total of 18,000 metric tonnes of food. They are also continuing to preposition stocks at key locations across the country in future anticipation of need.

Department for Education

Universities: Pensions

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with the University and College Union as a result of its decision to undertake strike action over changes to staff pension schemes.

Mr Sam Gyimah: I have spoken to senior representatives of the University and College Union (UCU) as part of my engagement with all parties to the debate over reforms to the Universities Superannuation Scheme, to encourage them to continue discussions to find a solution. Officials in the Department for Education have also met with representatives of the UCU.

Unemployment: Young People

Alex Burghart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his Department's report, Characteristics of young people who are long-term NEET, published on 8 February, what proportion of young people who are classified as (a) white, eligible for free school meals, and Children in Need, (b) white, eligible for free school meals, and not Children in Need, (c) any ethnicity, eligible for free school meals, and not Children in Need, were not in education, employment or training in 2013-14.

Anne Milton: 26 per cent of white pupils who were eligible for free school meals and included within the Children in Need census, were not in education, employment or training for the whole of academic year 2013/14, three years after finishing key stage 4. 9 per cent of white pupils who were eligible for free school meals and not included within the Children in Need census, were not in education, employment or training for the whole of academic year 2013/14, three years after finishing key stage 4. 7 per cent of pupils who were eligible for free school meals and not included within the Children in Need census, were not in education, employment or training for the whole of academic year 2013/14, three years after finishing key stage 4.

Apprentices: Disadvantaged

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds (a) started and (b) completed apprenticeships in 2017.

Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally. The department did publish a set of ad-hoc data tables on 1 March 2018 that included apprenticeship participation broken down by the indices of multiple deprivation rank based on the learners home postcode covering the 2015/16 academic year. The data on apprenticeship completions is not available. The ‘Further education: indices of deprivation, England: 2015 to 2016’ tables can be viewed via: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-indices-of-deprivation-england-2015-to-2016.

Pre-school Education: Greater Manchester

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February to Question 127059, how many and what proportion of the lowest performing 20 per cent of children in each local authority in Greater Manchester are in receipt of the early years pupil premium.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Schools: Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to re-establish the celebration of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month in schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: We welcome the work of third sector groups in developing and promoting Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) History Month and are supportive of schools’ involvement in the initiative. It is for teachers to exercise professional judgement about how best to incorporate GRT history in teaching plans and school strategies. Teaching about the Holocaust is a mandatory part of the history curriculum at key stage 3 for maintained schools, and can provide a focus on all groups who were victims of this genocide. We and the Pears Foundation jointly fund the Centre for Holocaust Education to provide professional development for teachers to support this. Schools are free to teach about diversity among people of different races and cultures and about the impact of discrimination on individuals and communities in PSHE lessons. Our guidance on bullying also makes clear that schools should take measures to prevent bullying, which could involve talking to pupils about difference, potentially through dedicated events or projects.

Free School Meals

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were entitled to free school meals in (a) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency and (b) England in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Nadhim Zahawi: The proportion of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals is published at the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017. Data is not summarised by parliamentary constituency, but data for each school is available in the Underlying data: SFR28/2017 of the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release, contained in file ‘SFR28_2017_Schools_Pupils_UD’. The figures can be filtered by school phase, school type and parliamentary constituency.   Information for earlier years (from 2010 onwards) can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.

Pupil Referral Units

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2018 to Question 125156, on Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), in which local authority areas the (a) 70 PRUs which applied to convert to academy status and (b) 76 PRUs which have converted to alternative provision academies are located.

Nadhim Zahawi: The 70 Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) which applied to convert to academy status between January 2013 and January 2018 spanned 45 local authorities (refer to attached Table 1). The 76 PRUs that converted to alternative provision academies during the same period spanned 47 local authorities (refer to attached Table 2).



PRUs that applied to convert to an academy 2013-18
(Word Document, 25.97 KB)




PRUs that converted to AP academy status 2013-18
(Word Document, 25.96 KB)

Overseas Students: EU Nationals

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether EU students starting courses in English higher education institutions in 2019-20 and 2020-21 will be eligible for (a) home fee status and (b) student loans and grants under the current eligibility criteria.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The government has taken action to provide greater certainty about student funding for EU students. We have confirmed that current EU students and those starting courses at an English university or further education institution in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic years will continue to be eligible for student loans and home fee status for the duration of their course. Future arrangements for EU students starting courses after 2018/19, and who are not settled in the UK or on a pathway to settled status by the specified date, will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU. Applications for courses starting in 2019/20 do not open until September 2018, and we are working to ensure students applying have information well in advance of this date.

Overseas Students: EU Nationals

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government has undertaken an assessment of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the ability of universities to attract EU students at (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate levels.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The government is undertaking a comprehensive and ongoing programme of analytical work across a range of scenarios for EU exit. As part of this, we are engaging closely with the higher education (HE) sector, including through my High Level Stakeholder Working Group on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation.   The UK is a highly attractive destination for EU and international students, second only to the USA in the numbers we attract, and we recognise that student mobility is a key issue for our world-class HE sector. The government has commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to provide an objective assessment of the impact of EU and international students by September 2018. This provides an important opportunity for the sector to share evidence, and the MAC’s independent advice will help inform decisions on the future migration system. To help provide certainty, we have also announced that EU students starting courses in England in the academic year 2018/19 or before will continue to be eligible for student loans and home fee status for the duration of their course, and will remain eligible for Research Council PhD studentships on the current basis. These students will also have a right to remain in the UK to complete their course.

Overseas Students: EU Nationals

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will take steps to ensure that as part of the transitional arrangement EU students starting courses in English higher education institutions during any agreed implementation period will continue to be eligible for (a) home fee status and (b) student loans and grants.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Future arrangements for EU students starting courses after 2018/19, and who are not settled in the UK or on a pathway to settled status by the specified date, is being considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU. Applications for courses starting in 2019/20 do not open until September 2018, and we are working to ensure students applying have information well in advance of this date.

Students: Mental Illness

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of people who left their undergraduate degree course for mental health reasons in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Mental health is a priority for this government. The Children and Young People’s Mental Health green paper outlines the government’s plans to set up a new national strategic partnership focused on improving the mental health of 16-25 year olds, encouraging more coordinated action, innovation and robust evaluation of mental health services. One recommendation in the green paper is for the partnership to provide a systematic strategy to improve what we know about student mental health by encouraging improvements in data linkage and analytics. Data is available from the Higher Education Statistical Agency on the number of higher education students who leave their course early for health reasons, but the data does not make it possible to distinguish mental health reasons specifically. The department is working closely with Universities UK on the programme of work on Mental Health in Higher Education, which has included work with the Institute for Public Policy Research to strengthen the evidence-base on mental health in higher education.

Department for Education: Telephone Services

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Answer of 6 February 2018 to Question 126173, on Department for Education: Telephone Services, what funding his Department has allocated to each helpline mentioned in that Answer for the next 12 months; and whether his Department plans to cease funding any of those helplines.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education is considering future funding for a number of helplines, where existing grants are coming to an end. We will make announcements about individual helplines once commercial negotiations and decisions are finalised.

Poverty: Children

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that child poverty does not have a detrimental effect on educational attainment.

Nadhim Zahawi: Educational achievement, irrespective of background, is at the heart of our commitment to make this a country where everyone has a fair chance to go as far as their talent and hard work will take them. The department recognises that children from poor backgrounds may face additional challenges to realising their potential. It has spent over £11 billion since 2011, almost £2.5 billion this year alone, through the pupil premium to provide schools with resources to overcome the barriers to learning so often experienced by disadvantaged pupils. Over 9,700 pupils in East Ham are eligible for support and this year their schools are receiving more than £11 million through the pupil premium.We look to schools to use this extra funding effectively. We know from research that a personalised approach, drawing on well-evidenced strategies, generally produces good results. Studies by the National Foundation for Educational Research and the regularly-updated toolkit maintained by the Education Endowment Foundation provide support to school leaders in their decision-making. Schools all over England are overcoming the poor economic circumstances of their disadvantaged pupils; examples of effective practice are highlighted each year through our national Pupil Premium Awards.

Students: Loans

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on providing a sharia-compliant alternative student finance system.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether a sharia-compliant alternative student finance system will be available for people beginning university courses in September 2018.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We understand the concern that some prospective students may be deterred from pursuing higher education because they are unable to use loans that bear interest. We are therefore continuing to work on an alternative student finance product that would avoid using interest. We have appointed specialist advisors from the Islamic Finance Council to help design a new system that can make maintenance and tuition fee payments and collect repayment contributions in a way that is both equivalent to the current system and compliant with the requirements of Islamic finance. This a complex area requiring careful consideration of a range of technical issues, including the nature of the accounting for the new arrangements, the degree of legal separation required for any fund, the treatment of cashflows, the nature of the commitments that a student will make under the new system, and the method for establishing equivalence of outcome, amongst others.This work is being undertaken at pace and we will be in a good place to provide an update in the summer. I will set out our planned timetable at that time. I note that it typically takes two years to introduce a new student finance product, which would rule out launching for academic year 2018/19.

Pupil Premium

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how effectively early years providers are using the early years pupil premium.

Nadhim Zahawi: As part of the department’s flagship longitudinal Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) we undertook a qualitative study into the experiences of the Early Years Pupil Premium. As part of the 2016 Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers (SCEYP) the department undertook a separate survey to explore how providers use Early Years Pupil Premium. The reports can be found at the following links:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/experiences-of-the-early-years-pupil-premium.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-pupil-premium-providers-survey.We continue to monitor the Early Years Pupil Premium in our Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers (SCEYP). The next survey will be published in October 2018 and will be available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-childcare-and-early-years.

Ministry of Justice

Funerals

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, Communities and Local Government, how many public health funerals took place in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Dr Phillip Lee: The requested information is not held centrally.

Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to commence the provisions of the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government is preparing the necessary secondary legislation to enable the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 to be brought into force and remains committed to achieving this as soon as is reasonably practicable, but has not yet fixed a date.

Solicitors: Regulation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support his Department provides to people who have received incorrect legal advice from a solicitor who subsequently absconds from the UK jurisdiction.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 05 March 2018



The regulation of legal services in England and Wales is independent in accordance with the framework set out in the Legal Services Act 2007. Any relevant action is taken forward by the regulatory bodies. Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which investigates cases of alleged misconduct. The SRA can take action against a solicitor in his or her capacity as an England and Wales lawyer, even if the solicitor is no longer resident in England or Wales. Consumers can also complain to the independent Legal Ombudsman, which has powers to order redress. Separate arrangements are in place in Scotland, through the Law Society of Scotland, and in Northern Ireland, through the Law Society of Northern Ireland.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2018, to Question 126333, on Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, whether her Department plans to publish the list of organisations and experts it plans to invite to submit evidence to the post-implementation review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 once that list has been determined.

Lucy Frazer: The Lord Chancellor has confirmed that we shall conduct an evidence-based review of Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), assessing the changes against their objectives.It is right that we take time to gather evidence, and we shall be engaging with experts and interested parties. I am currently considering the best way to proceed and will announce more details in due course.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Land Drainage: Lancashire County Council

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated by Lancashire County Council gully cleaning; what proportion of that funding was allocated to West Lancashire, and how that compares with the funding allocated by other local authorities.

Rishi Sunak: This year’s settlement will see a real terms increase in resources to local government over the next two years moving from £44.3 billion in 2017-18 to £45.6 billion in 2019-20.Lancashire County Council will have available £1.4 billion in Core Spending Power between 2017/18 to 2019/20.Data on either planned or actual expenditure on specific activities such as gully clearing are not held centrally. Figures on broader activity categories are provided to the Department by local authorities and these are available in revenue account budget and revenue outturn individual authority data at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financingAs democratically elected organisations, local authorities are independent of central government and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities.

Green Belt

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government intends to revise its local planning guidance for the Green Belt.

Dominic Raab: This Government has a clear manifesto commitment to maintain strong protections for Green Belt. This will be carried forward in the revision of the National Planning Policy Framework, which was published for consultation on 5 March 2018. We will review the draft Framework in the light of the consultation responses we receive, before issuing the new Framework later in the year. At the same time we will consider what supporting guidance will be necessary.

Pensions: Local Government

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to harmonise the actuarial methodology which determines the level of employer pension contributions for local authorities.

Rishi Sunak: Contributions for Local Government Pension Scheme employers are set locally and principally reflect variations in membership and accumulated experience within the fund. The level of employer contributions is for funds to determine based on local actuarial advice.The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 provides in section 13 for a review of the triennial local fund valuations, including employer contribution rates, to ensure that they are set at an appropriate level to ensure solvency and long term cost efficiency. The Department has appointed the Government Actuary to carry out the section 13 review following the 2016 valuations and it will be published later this year.

Right to Buy Scheme

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Government’s policies on the replacement of homes sold under the right to buy.

Dominic Raab: There is a rolling 3 year deadline for local authorities to use the receipts from additional Right to Buy sales for new affordable housing and so far, they have delivered within sales profile. However, the Government is keen to understand if more can be done to encourage faster delivery of Right to Buy replacements. We have been engaging with local authorities to get their views, which will be fed into our assessment.

Holiday Accommodation: Non-Domestic Rates

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of owners of holiday properties who have registered for the small business rates relief.

Rishi Sunak: The Department does not collect data on the number of holiday properties that are registered for, or receive, small business rate relief. Decisions on whether a property qualifies for small business rate relief rest with local councils.The Valuation Office Agency ratings list data shows that there are 41,000 properties classed as self-catering holiday homes with a rateable value of up to £15,000, which is the upper limit for small business rate relief. However, not all of these properties will receive this relief, for example where owners have more than one property.

Housing: Standards

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated to the Decent Homes programme in each financial year since 2009-10; and what commitment he has made for future funding of that programme.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Holding answer received on 05 March 2018



The Decent Homes backlog programme provided £1.76 million of funding to local authorities between 2011/16 to tackle their backlog of non-decent homes.The funding by year as follows:-2011/12 - £300 million2012/13 - £394 million2013/14 - £431 million2014/15 - £474 million2015/16 - £160 millionThere was no government funding in years 2009/10 or 2010/11. The number of social homes failing to meet the Decent Homes standard is down by 55 per cent since 2007 (between 2007 and 2016), with over 626,000 local authority homes brought up to standard since 2009.Since the Local Government Self Financing Settlement in 2012 we expect local authorities to use their rental income to maintain the standard.

Refuges: Children

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what joint initiatives his Department has with the Department for Education on supporting a child whose parent enters a women's refuge.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government recognises the life changing impact domestic abuse can have on the lives of children. We will introduce a landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill to protect and support victims, recognise the life-long impact domestic abuse has on children and make sure agencies effectively respond to domestic abuse.The Government is determined to tackle violence against women and girls and the Home Secretary chairs an Inter-Ministerial Group on this issue on which both the Department for Education and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are represented.Through our 2015 £3.5 million fund and our 2016/18 £20 million fund for domestic abuse services, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government have funded projects to improve support for children who have experienced domestic abuse.The Department for Education has invested around £900,000 from December 2016 to March 2018 in voluntary sector projects to address domestic abuse and its impact on children.The Government has also invested £920 million in the Troubled Families Programme, to support up to 400,000 families with multiple high-cost problems, including domestic abuse, by 2020.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Large Goods Vehicles: EU Countries

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions his Department has had with the road haulier industry on access to EU member states after 2019.

Mr Robin Walker: Officials and ministers in the Department for Exiting the European Union and the Department for Transport engage with stakeholders in the road haulage industry, as well as wider groups reliant on road haulage, on a regular basis.We have conducted a number of informal bilaterals and roundtables with hauliers and trade associations as well as attending a number of conferences organised by the sector. In particular:Secretary of State for Transport has held roundtables with road industry leaders from the motoring, freight and logistics sectors to discuss EU Exit. Issues discussed have included: access to EU Member States; road haulage on the island of Ireland; vehicle standards; customs; and opportunities from EU exit. They have also discussed the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill. Officials from DExEU have attended these events.The Government engages regularly with the Freight Transport Association (FTA), who are one of the UK’s largest trade associations and represent the transport interests of companies moving goods by road, rail, sea and air. I met with them in December 2017 and discussed their interests and concerns around EU exit, including the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill. Former Minister the Rt Hon. David Jones, Member for Clwyd West, also attended their annual conference last year and gave the keynote speech.The Government has also close and constructive links with the Road Haulage Association (RHA) - a UK trade association dedicated to the needs of UK road transport operators.We will continue to engage with the haulage industry and seek views from across the sector in preparing for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.Details of ministerial meetings are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which are publicly available on GOV.UK.

Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU)

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his Department's policy is on maintaining the rights and entitlements of children under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights after the UK has left the EU.

Mr Steve Baker: The UK’s commitment to the rights of the child will not be affected by withdrawal from the EU and the non-retention of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Government’s intention is that in itself the non-incorporation of the Charter into UK law should not affect the substantive rights that individuals already benefit from in the UK, including the rights of children, as the Charter was never the source of those rights. After exit, children’s rights will continue to be protected through domestic legislation (including the Children Act 1989) and the UK will remain a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Government has published a right-by-right analysis on the Charter which sets out, non-exhaustively, how each substantive right found in the Charter will be reflected in the domestic law of the UK after exit in greater detail. The analysis is available on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/664891/05122017_Charter_Analysis_FINAL_VERSION.pdf.



Right-by-Right Analysis on the Charter
(PDF Document, 717.75 KB)

Department for Exiting the European Union: Official Visits

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, on how many occasions he visited (a) Brussels, (b) Luxembourg, (c) Paris, (d) Berlin and (e) Dublin in the last six months.

Mr Robin Walker: The Secretary of State for Exiting the EU has had significant engagement with EU Member States and the EU Institutions. In the last six months, he visited:a) Brussels - nine timesb) Luxembourg - oncec) Paris - twiced) Berlin - oncee) Dublin - nil. The Secretary of State’s first visit following his appointment was to Dublin in September 2016 and he and his Cabinet colleagues have had regular discussions with the Irish Government since that time.

Department for Work and Pensions

Pensions

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions  what steps she is taking to ensure the accuracy of calculations of the contracted-out pension equivalent in state pension forecasts; and if he will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: The Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE) estimated amount provided with State Pension forecasts is calculated based on the information held on the individual’s NI record at the time the State Pension forecast is produced.

Children: Maintenance

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents there are in the Child Maintenance Service collect and pay process; how many of those parents have arrears greater than (a) 12 weeks and (b) 6 months.

Kit Malthouse: As at the end of December 2017 there were 105,300 Paying Parents using the Collect & Pay Service provided by the Child Maintenance Service. This figure is published quarterly in table 6 of the Child Maintenance Service experimental statistics data tables, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-aug-2013-to-dec-2017-experimental The amount of maintenance unpaid by Paying Parents is reported in table 9 of our quarterly published statistics, and annually in the Child Maintenance Service Client Fund Accounts, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-maintenance-client-funds-account-2016-to-2017 Analysis of this unpaid maintenance by age is not currently available.

Burial: Fees and Charges

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of child burial charges on parents living in poverty.

Kit Malthouse: The Department has not made an assessment of the impact of child burial charges on parents in poverty. Funeral Expenses Payments are available to help parents, and others, on certain income-related benefits with the costs of funerals, and will pay the full fees levied for adult or children’s burials or cremations.

Social Security Benefits: Ellesmere Port and Neston

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints from Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner’s Office.

Kit Malthouse: The Independent Case Examiner’s Office currently has 19 complaints from the Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal injury claims were submitted to the Compensation Recovery Unit in each of the last five years.

Kit Malthouse: Please find below the volumes of personal injury claims submitted and registered with DWP Compensation Recovery Unit for the last five complete financial years which is how we record this Information: Financial YearClaims Registered2016/17978,8162015/16981,3242014/15998,3592013/141,016,8012012/131,048,309

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest did not receive notice of the impending changes to the benefit scheduled for 5 April 2018.

Kit Malthouse: To date, the department has sent information to around 95% of SMI claimants at the address at which they are claiming SMI benefit. The remaining 5% of cases we have so far been unable to refer to Serco for a variety of reasons, such as the need to obtain a telephone number for the claimant.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the latest date was by which recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest were made aware of the changes to the benefit scheduled for 5 April 2018.

Kit Malthouse: To date, the department has sent information to around 95% of SMI claimants at the address at which they are claiming SMI benefit. In some cases we have so far been unable to contact claimants for a variety of reasons such as where we need to obtain a telephone number for the claimant. On current plans, the last contacts should be made by 26 March. The Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations 2017 contain provision to extend payment of SMI benefit in these cases.

Universal Credit: Mental Illness

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has conducted an evaluation into Work Coaches' tailoring of the Universal Credit Claimant Commitment for people with mental health problems.

Alok Sharma: The Department has not carried out an evaluation in this area. For claimants with a physical or mental impairment (including those with cognitive or learning difficulties) work coaches may agree to tailor the number of hours, type and location of work depending on the claimants’ impairment. In addition, work search and availability requirements must be lifted for certain periods of time to account for a period of sickness. Outside of these set periods, work coaches have the discretion to tailor requirements depending on what is reasonable based on the claimant’s health condition.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been affected by the under-occupancy penalty in North West Durham constituency.

Kit Malthouse: Figures on the number of households receiving Housing Benefit (HB) affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) by parliamentary constituency are publically available through the DWP Stat Xplore website:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml Guidance for users is available at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html Figures on DWP Stat Xplore do not include claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) deduction, as this data is not currently available.

Children: Maintenance

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service's collect and pay system.

Kit Malthouse: When measuring the effectiveness of collect and pay cases we collect data on rate of compliance. These figures are published quarterly in table 6 of the Child Maintenance Service experimental statistics data tables, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/684262/tables-child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-december-2017.ods

Children: Maintenance

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department takes to ensure that child maintenance payments are paid by non-resident parents; and what steps her Department takes to support the resident parent.

Kit Malthouse: We have a range of strong enforcement powers intended to ensure paying parents fulfil their financial responsibilities towards their children, and therefore help support receiving parents. These powers include deducting maintenance directly from earnings, sharing information about non-compliance with credit reference agencies, instructing bailiffs to collect arrears or seize goods, forcing the sale of property, commitment to prison and disqualification from driving. We have also recently consulted on a new compliance and arrears strategy aimed at further increasing our compliance and enforcement powers.

Department for Work and Pensions: Internet

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of her Department’s cloud hosting contracts have been awarded to (a) hyperscale cloud providers and (b) UK SMEs; and what the value was of those contracts in each of the last three years.

Kit Malthouse: DWP does not centrally collect the specific data requested. Information regarding contracts above the value of £10,000 is published on Contracts Finder on GOV.UK, available at https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder The Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Information Commissioner’s Office also have responsibilities in this area.

Employment Support Allowance: Disqualification

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Advice of Decision-Makers Memorandum 02/18, whether a claimant of employment support allowance can be sanctioned if they do not (a) consider a referral to professional service, (b) research local self-help centres and support groups appropriate to that claimant's health condition and (c) look at the Expert Patient Programme online.

Sarah Newton: Requirements agreed between work coaches and claimants are specifically designed to help the claimants engage with work, in whatever way might be appropriate for that individual. The requirements must be reasonable and they are tailored to the claimant’s individual needs. For many of our claimants work preparation activity involves addressing their particular challenges, which can include managing their health condition. We would not ask a claimant to carry out an activity which would carry a risk to the health of the claimant, nor would we ask for a claimant to undergo medical treatment as part of their requirements. We work hard to build supportive and open relationships with our claimants so that we can agree support tailored in the most effective possible way.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money her Department has spent on promoting the universal credit helpline since it became a free number; and in what ways her Department is promoting that helpline.

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has contacted all universal credit claimants to advise them that the helpline is now free to call.

Alok Sharma: The Department’s electronic media including SMS text messages and GOV.UK were updated as the new Freephone numbers were introduced. System generated notifications for Universal Credit claimants in the Full and Live Service were updated from the announcement in November and this was completed by the end of January 2018. We have not contacted all Universal Credit claimants to advise them that calling the helpline is now free of charge, however claimants calling the 0345 number are played a message that tells them that that number has been replaced with a Freephone number, whilst giving them the new Freephone number to use, at no charge. As our service is predominantly online, GOV.UK has been updated to reflect the helpline is now free to call. All of our publicity material has been updated and alongside local and national media communications, our engagement has been primarily through our partnership managers working with local customer representative organisations. It is not possible to separately identify the costs of all the activity outlined in this answer.

Department for Work and Pensions: Training

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's guidance, Advice for decision-making: staff guide, updated on 15 February 2018, what assessment she has made of whether work-related activity includes (a) considering referrals to professional services, (b) researching local self-help centres and support groups appropriate to a claimant’s health condition and (c) looking at the Expert Patient Programme online and listing reasons on how it could benefit a claimant.

Sarah Newton: There has been no assessment made on whether work-related activity includes (a) considering referrals to professional services, (b) researching local self-help centres and support groups appropriate to a claimant’s health condition and (c) looking at the Expert Patient Programme online and listing reasons on how it could benefit a claimant. Requirements agreed between work coaches and claimants are specifically designed to help the claimants engage with work, in whatever way might be appropriate for that individual. The requirements must be reasonable and they are tailored to the claimant’s individual needs. For many of our claimants work preparation activity involves addressing their particular challenges, which can include managing their health condition. We would not ask a claimant to carry out an activity which would carry a risk to the health of the claimant, nor would we ask for a claimant to undergo medical treatment as part of their requirements. We work hard to build supportive and open relationships with our claimants so that we can agree support tailored in the most effective possible way.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of staff in her Department worked in (a) departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) in any other location in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

George Eustice: The proportion of where staff are located in the department is shown in the table below:Financial Year (31 March)Departmental AccommodationFrom HomeOther Locations2014/1596.7%2.4%1.0%2015/1696.2%3.4%0.4%2016/1795.8%3.6%0.6%2017/18 (31 Jan 2018)97.4%2.3%0.3% Data has only been collected centrally since the 2014/15 financial year and is based on those payroll staff receiving the Home-Based allowance. The department supports flexible working and work-life balance allowing employees to fulfil their roles and responsibilities while working remotely. These flexible working arrangements are agreed locally and would likely result in some employees working from home at times but their main location of work would be recorded as “Departmental Accommodation”. These arrangements are not factored into the data provided in the above table.

Squirrels: Pest Control

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of grey squirrels.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We are working together with a range of stakeholders under the UK Squirrel Accord (UKSA), which aims to promote partnership working to both increase public awareness and support for action to protect our red squirrels and woodlands from the damage caused by grey squirrels. Defra and the Forestry Commission are signatories to the UK Squirrel Accord and are represented on the Accord Executive Committee. Under the joint grey squirrel action plan for England, Defra and the Forestry Commission (FC) are committed to working with land owners and other organisations to implement a package of measures to support targeted grey squirrel control. The action plan includes: Additional measures in forestry options of Countryside Stewardship for land managers to control grey squirrels (not just in red squirrel areas but in woodlands where squirrels are a threat to management plan objectives).Support for research and evidence.Taking action on the FC’s own land holding (the public forest estate). A team at the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) National Wildlife Management Centre is leading development of a contraceptive for grey squirrels. Defra provided initial funding of £39k in 2016/17 and a further £55k for 2017/18. Our contribution helped secure a further £125,000 for the APHA project from charitable trusts and the private sector coordinated through the UK Squirrel Accord and, although complementary, the Defra and UKSA funded work are separate projects.

Food: Labelling

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) food labelling is accurate and (b) imported food is not labelled as having been produced in Britain.

George Eustice: All information provided with food must not be misleading and, specifically, origin information must be given where not to do so would mislead consumers. Food labelling rules require that accurate origin information must be displayed with many foods, including fresh and frozen meat. If a food business operator fails to provide mandatory information, or provides information that is misleading (including provenance information) they will be served with an improvement notice. Failure to observe the improvement notice is an offence.

River Lea: Pollution

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent oil spillage in the River Lea on (a) the health and well-being of local residents and (b) local wildlife.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by what date the oil spillage on the River Lea will be cleared; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the capacity of (a) the Environment Agency and (b) the Canal and River Trust to tackle oil spills and associated pollution on waterways.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent oil spills in areas in which repeat incidents have occurred.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency (EA) was first notified of the pollution at Tottenham Locks at 11:20 on Sunday 11 February 2018. Within 2 hours of receiving the first call the EA had deployed field teams to investigate and within 3 hours it had also notified the Canal and River Trust and the Swan Sanctuary. The decision to notify was based upon visual inspection of the river and the growing number of reports received relating to concerns for wildlife, primarily swans and ducks. Public Health England has provided advice as follows: Health effects are likely to be minimal given the open environment. Members of the public may report an unpleasant smell but again this does not necessarily indicate that there is any health effect associated with the smell: for many volatile chemicals, they can be detected by smell at levels below which they cause health effects. However, any members of the public who do report feeling unwell should seek health care/advice from their GP, NHS 111 or A&E. Notices should be put up in the affected areas warning the public to avoid contact with the water especially dog walkers (whose dogs should be kept on the lead), anglers, canoeists or others performing water sports. The water should not be drunk, bathed in or used for washing or cooking. The incident has had a significant, localised effect on water quality, impacted on the quality and use of the river and caused minor damage to nature conservation. The EA, along with its contractors Adler and Allan, has been working to remove oil from the River Lea Navigation since 12 February 2018. The EA is also being assisted with clean-up efforts by the Canal and River Trust and volunteers at various locations between Stonebridge Locks and Old Ford Locks. Thames Water Utilities Limited, which owns the surface water sewer and outfall from which the oil entered the Pymmes Brook at Tottenham Marshes, has also contracted Adler and Allan to flush through the drainage system and tanker off any residual oil still present at the outfall and within the infrastructure. Once the works have been completed at the outfall there should be no further oil from this particular incident. The EA expects that the effects of the pollution on the watercourse will be cleared by 9 March, dependant on factors such as weather conditions for moving specialised equipment. The EA records, assesses and responds to pollution incidents that are reported to it. Where there are repeated oil pollution incidents in a particular location, the EA works with partners to investigate and take the required steps to advise businesses and householders on the actions they need to take to stop the pollution and prevent recurrence. If enforcement action is required the EA can serve enforcement notices to require actions to be taken, and for the most serious incidents it can prosecute offenders. In November 2017 EA and the Canal and River Trust (CRT) agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure effective co-operation between them in dealing with pollution incidents, including oil spills, in or affecting CRT’s waterway network. The EA will continue to lead on the more serious category 1 and category 2 pollution incidents affecting CRT waterways, while CRT will lead on the less serious category 3 and 4 incidents. The CRT and EA will work together on incident response, cost recovery, and on local contacts and working together arrangements. In a typical recent year (2016) the EA recorded 310 water pollution incidents in canals and inland waterways, of which 25 were categorised as serious. Typically around 25% of water pollution incidents reported to the EA involve oil as a pollutant. The EA and CRT have the capacity to deal with incidents on a risk basis. New approaches, such as the MoU, enable them to be even more effective by pooling resources. Where a large oil spill affects a waterbody the EA can call in extra resources such as specialist contractors to carry out clean-up work. Where the polluter is identified the EA can recover the costs of the clean up under section 161 of the Water Resources Act.

Air Pollution: Monitoring

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to make funding available for local authorities to monitor particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Local authorities have a duty to review and assess air quality. They make decisions on local air quality monitoring and, take consideration of Defra’s Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) Technical Guidance in siting air quality monitors. Positioning of local monitors is expected to be in line with national and local priorities, which may include locations where there is high risk of public exposure to air pollutants. Local authorities in England operate over 700 local monitoring stations. Since it began in 1997, Defra’s air quality grant scheme has awarded over £55 million in funding, to a variety of projects to help local authorities make improvements to local air quality. For the 2017/18 round a total of at least £2 million is being made available to successful bidding local authorities.

Electronic Training Aids

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to Answer of 13 February 2018 to Question 126358  and the letter to the Secretary of State from the hon. Member for Edinburgh East, what his policy is on the sale of electronic shock collars.

George Eustice: We have updated the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs (made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006), and strengthened the form of wording on the use of negative training methods. The draft code, which is currently before Parliament, makes it clear that any training method which includes physical punishment may cause pain, suffering and distress and could lead to aggressive responses and worsen the problems they aim to address.

Home Office

Asylum: Children

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the number of asylum applications made in the UK by people aged under 18 that have been approved in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office publishes data on the number of applications from unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) and initial decisions for such applications, in the quarterly Immigration Statistics publication. The latest figures, up until 2017, are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017Table as_08 (asylum tables, vol. 3) contains the number of applications from UASC, based on date of application.Table as_09 (asylum tables, vol. 3) contains the number of grants at initial decisions for UASC, based on date of initial decision.Table as_02_q_c (asylum tables, vol. 2) contains the number of grants of asylum or alternative forms of protection at initial decision for under 18’s. This includes those granted as a main applicant, dependants to another application or as a UASC.

Home Office: Written Questions

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to Question 125869, on police: taxis, tabled on 31 January 2018.

Mr Nick Hurd: The response to UIN 125869 was answered on 5th March 2018.

Immigration Bail

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's publication, Immigration Bail, version 1.0, published on 12 January 2018, what estimate she has made of the number of immigration detainees who will face homelessness if they are released without bail accommodation under schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether destitution qualifies as an exceptional circumstance for the provision of accommodation for immigration bail applicants.

Caroline Nokes: Accommodation will be provided to immigration bail applicants if the person does not have adequate accommodation or the means of obtaining it – whether from a public body under different legislative powers or through their own efforts - and the provision of accommodation is necessary in order to avoid a breach of their human rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.However, accommodation should only be provided if it is clear that the person cannot reasonably be expected to leave the UK. Any person who could leave the UK in order to avoid homelessness should do so.The exceptional criteria set out in the immigration bail policy apply where a residence condition is set as a condition of immigration bail and the individual is unable to support themselves at that address.

HM Treasury

Inheritance Tax

Rachel Reeves: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department estimates will be collected through inheritance tax in each year from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

Mel Stride: The latest inheritance tax receipts forecasts for 2017/18 to 2022/23 are published in Table 4.6 of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication at:http://cdn.obr.uk/Nov2017EFOwebversion-2.pdf

Inheritance Tax

Rachel Reeves: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of lost revenue resulting from changes to inheritance tax thresholds announced in Budget 2015 in the (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20 and (d) 2020-21 fiscal year.

Mel Stride: At Summer Budget 2015, the government announced the introduction of a ‘residence nil rate band’ for inheritance tax when a home is passed on death to a direct descendent. It will start at £100,000 in 2017-18, increasing in £25,000 increments to £175,000 in 2020-21. This, in addition to the existing nil rate band of £325,000, will increase the inheritance tax free threshold to £500,000 for many individuals, and up to £1 million for many married couples and civil partners by 2020-21. The latest estimates of the cost to the exchequer of introducing the residence nil rate band from 2017-18 to 2021-22 are published in Table 2.2 of the Spring Budget 2017 official publication at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/597467/spring_budget_2017_web.pdf

Inheritance Tax

Rachel Reeves: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of how many people and estates will benefit as a result of the changes to inheritance tax thresholds announced in Budget 2015 in the (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20 and (d) 2020-21 fiscal year.

Mel Stride: At Summer Budget 2015, the government announced the introduction of a ‘residence nil rate band’ for inheritance tax when a home is passed on death to a direct descendent. It will start at £100,000 in 2017-18, increasing in £25,000 increments to £175,000 in 2020-21. This, in addition to the existing nil rate band of £325,000, will increase the inheritance tax free threshold to £500,000 for many individuals, and up to £1 million for many married couples and civil partners by 2020-21. The estimated number of estates that will benefit as a result of the residence nil rate band are in the table below: Year2017/ 182018/ 192019/ 202020/ 212021/ 22Estimated number of estates benefitting from the residence nil-rate band phased in from 2017 (000s)3031323436

Public Bodies: Northern Ireland

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Northern Ireland Government bodies received refunds of VAT incurred on non-business purchases under the section 99 refund scheme in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: There are five registered VAT numbers who make regular claims under this scheme.

Local Government: VAT

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many local authority-type bodies received refunds of VAT incurred on non-business purchases under the section 33 refund scheme in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: There are 1269 VAT registered Local Authorities and other Councils who make regular claims under this scheme.

VAT

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Central Government, Health Authorities and NHS Trusts received refunds of VAT incurred on contracted-out services in the Section 41(3) refund scheme in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: There are 598 Government bodies and NHS entities making regular claims under this scheme

National Savings Bank: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received income tax relief on the first £70 of National Savings Bank ordinary account interest in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs publishes the estimated cost of the income tax exemption of Premium Bond prizes here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs.In 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 the cost of this exemption was estimated to be £130 million in each year. For this relief, estimates of the number of individuals benefitting are not held. The estimated costs are based on aggregate figures or assumptions.

Married People: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received the married couple’s allowance relief in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many self-employed people received relief from contributions not attributable to reduced pensions eligibility in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received income tax relief on Guardian’s allowance in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The table below shows estimates for the number of people receiving income tax or National Insurance Contributions relief for each of the requested allowances. The estimates show people that would face a higher tax or NICs liability if the individual allowances and/or thresholds were removed, (and includes people who are currently non-taxpayers as their income is covered by these thresholds and/or allowances). Estimates of the number of people who received tax/NIC relief (Millions) (1) 2015-162016-172017-18Married Couple Allowance0.50.40.3Contributions not attributable to reduced pensions eligibility2.22.22.2The figures are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand and presented in millions. The estimates provided are based on the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI), projected to 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s November 2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Estimates of the number of people who received Guardian’s allowance cannot be provided as there are less than 0.1m individuals estimated to benefit from Guardian’s allowance in each year.

Taxation: Developing Countries

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax auditors HMRC has provided to Tax Inspectors Without Borders since 2016.

Mel Stride: HMRC has provided two auditors to Tax Inspectors Without Borders since 2016.

Taxation: Developing Countries

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding his Department has allocated to HMRC's dedicated tax avoidance and evasion team for developing countries since Autumn Statement 2014.

Mel Stride: HMRC has allocated £1.8 million from the Overseas Development Assistance element of its budget to support developing countries through various projects such as Capacity Building Unit across a three year period from 2015/16 to 2017/18.

Industry: Nationalisation

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of renationalising British industries.

Elizabeth Truss: HMT has not made a formal assessment of the cost of nationalisations. However, in my speech to Policy Exchange on 30 January I referenced a report by the Centre for Policy Studies which suggests that the cost of renationalising energy, water, rail and PFI could be over £170 billion.

Regional Planning and Development: Hampshire

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support regional infrastructure development in Hampshire.

Robert Jenrick: This government is committed to delivering modern and efficient infrastructure across every part of the country. Access to Superfast broadband in Hampshire has risen from 56.7% to 93.8% since 2010, and we have confirmed the introduction of a regulatory Universal Service Obligation, to give everyone in the UK the right to request a broadband connection with speeds of at least 10 Mbps by 2020. Next month work will start on upgrading the M27 smart motorway scheme to link it with the M3 smart motorway scheme. Hampshire County Council has received LEP funding to support transport schemes that drive economic growth and house-building such as the Stubbington and Bordon/Whitehall Bypasses. Major cities in England will be able to bid into the competitive element of the £1.7 billion transport fund launched at budget to drive productivity in our great cities, and up to £1 billion is available for local authorities to borrow from at a new discounted interest rate to support high-value infrastructure projects.

Members: Correspondence

Chris Bryant: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the letter of 20 November 2017 from the hon. Member for Rhondda on constituent Mr Neil Davies.

Robert Jenrick: Unfortunately the Treasury did not receive the honourable member’s letter of 20 November. However, his further letter dated 12 February was received and I subsequently responded on the Chancellors behalf.

Treasury: Tableware

Ruth Smeeth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2018 to Question 128648 on Treasury: Tableware, which subcontractors supply his Department with its tableware.

Robert Jenrick: The subcontractor who supplies HM Treasury with its tableware is Baxter Story Plc.

Members: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many hon. Members and ministers received income tax relief on expenses in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: Information on MPs’ expenses is published here: http://www.theipsa.org.uk/mp-costs/other-published-data/ from which it was estimated nearly all MPs received income tax relief on qualifying expenses in 2015/16 and 2016/17. We cannot give an exact number of MPs because where an expense payment wholly qualifies for tax relief there is no requirement for it to be reported to HMRC and this is the same as for any other employee. 2017/18 data is not yet available.

Capital Gains Tax: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief for trading losses against capital gains in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: There were 2,950 individuals who set in-year trading losses against capital gains in their Self Assessment (SA) returns for the 2015-16 tax year. Individuals are able to offset some trading losses from the previous tax year against in-year capital gains. The SA return, however, does not separately capture this information from non-trading losses, and so this is not included in the figures given in this answer.The deadline for filing all SA returns for the 2016-17 tax year was 31 January 2018. We are currently waiting for any late returns and are completing quality assurance checks on the data. The deadline for filing all SA returns for the 2017-18 tax year will be 31 January 2019. Consequently, this information is not yet available.

Roadchef: Employee Benefit Trusts

Stephen Doughty: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when (a) he or (b) HM Revenue and Customs officials last met representatives of the Roadchef Employee Benefits Fund.

Mel Stride: The administration of the tax system, including where appropriate the repayment of tax or duties, is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury Ministers to become involved in the administration of the tax system in specific cases.

Cabinet Office

Prime Minister: Travel

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much her office has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each month since July 2016.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQ121021 on 10th January 2018.

Living Wage: Mothers

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127467 on living wage: mothers, whether any data is held on the earnings of women with dependent children.

Chloe Smith: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 01 March 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.


UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 66.65 KB)




UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 67.18 KB)

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.


UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 66.65 KB)




UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 67.18 KB)

Carillion

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 123234, whether the certificates of past performance for the HS2 contracts awarded to Carillion in July 2017, the HESTIA contracts awarded to Carillion in July 2017 and the London to Corby electrification contract awarded in November 2017 were self-certificates.

Oliver Dowden: Information on whether Certificates of Past Performance were certified is not recorded centrally.

Electronic Government: Hacking

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information the Government holds on the amount of personal data which was stolen from government websites in the recent BrowseAloud hack.

Oliver Dowden: I refer the hon. Gentleman to PQ128224 answered on 27 February 2018 by the Minister of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Avanton

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments has taken to monitor compliance by the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks of conditions it gave with regard to his appointment at Avanton Ltd.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 67.16 KB)

Robert Hannigan

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments has taken to monitor compliance by Robert Hannigan of conditions it gave with regard to his commissions under the independent consultancy announced in October 2017.

Chloe Smith: The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments publishes its advice online, ensuring that its consideration and any conditions imposed are publicly available, to ensure effective scrutiny and accountability.

Senior Civil Servants: Business Interests

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will require the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments to collate and publish advice collected by Departments which is given to SCS1 and SCS2 civil servants on appointments after public service.

Chloe Smith: The Government already publishes information relating to advice given under the Business Appointment Rules to SCS1 and SCS2 civil servants on a quarterly basis. This information includes details of the decisions taken on individual cases and any conditions applied.

Civil Servants: Business Interests

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether consultants and temporary workers are subject to the business appointment rules regulated by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

Chloe Smith: Civil servants appointed on a temporary basis are subject to the Business Appointment Rules in the same way as permanent civil servants. Consultants employed by their consultancy organisation are subect to the company’s codes of conduct and rules as well as contractual arrangements with employing departments.

Civil Servants: Codes of Practice

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to revise the Civil Service Management Code; and if he will take steps to strengthen references in that code to real or perceived conflicts of interest.

Oliver Dowden: The Civil Service Management Code is kept under regular review. The Government is committed to amending the Code in relation to the business appointment rules as set out in its response to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee report: ‘Managing Ministers and officials conflict of interest: time for clearer values, principles and action’. The report can be found here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmpubadm/731/73102.htm

Zero Hours Contracts: Colne Valley

Thelma Walker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people who live in Colne Valley constituency, are employed on zero-hour contracts.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
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Cabinet Office: Business Interests

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which members of his Department's board are responsible for ensuring the proper application of the business appointment rules for former Ministers and senior civil servants.

Chloe Smith: Applications by former ministers are considered by the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments directly. For applications from former Civil Servants: Departmental Audit and Risk Committees, which are chaired by Departmental Non Executive Directors, will monitor compliance issues relating to the Business Appointment Rules at regular intervals.

Politics and Government: Young People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to engage young people with democracy.

Chloe Smith: The Government is committed to creating a democracy that works for everyone, in which every voice matters – including young people’s. Our plan to engage young people in our democracy is included in the Government’s Democratic Engagement Plan, published in December.As part of the Suffrage centenary, the Cabinet Office is leading on a package of Educational themed approaches aimed at engaging young people in the history of suffrage and our democracy processes.

Census

Afzal Khan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consultation the Government has undertaken on the phrasing of questions in the census.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
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Civil Servants: Official Secrets

Richard Burden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants have been (a) disciplined, (b) subject to criminal charges, and (c) dismissed for offences under the Official Secrets Act 1989 in each of the last five years.

Mr David Lidington: All breaches of information are taken seriously and recorded by each individual department. The Civil Service Management Code (4.2.1) states ‘Departments and agencies must remind staff on appointment, retirement or resignation that they are bound by the provisions of the criminal law, including the Official Secrets Acts, which protect certain categories of official information, and by their duty of confidentiality owed to the Crown as their former employer’.Where a law has been broken or potentially broken, it is reported to the police and they would take forward any investigation. Subsequent actions would be a matter for the police and the courts.Other than in exceptional cases, when it is in the public interest, it has been the policy of successive governments not to comment on breaches of security.

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2018 to Question 128318, on the One Public Estate Programme, how many of those submitted applications included partnerships with government departments.

Oliver Dowden: Further to the response provided for Question 128318, all 76 One Public Estate partnerships have at least one government department or agency on their local partnership boards. At its core, One Public Estate is about local and central government working together with other public bodies to transform communities and local public services and deliver value for money for the taxpayer. To effectively deliver these objectives, government departments and/or their local agencies must be included in One Public Estate partnerships.

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2018 to Question 128315, on One Public Estate Programme, how many such grants have been offered; to whom those grants have been awarded; and how much money each offeree has received.

Oliver Dowden: Further to the response provided for Question 128315, nine Sustainable Pilot Grants have been awarded to date. The programme is currently finalising additional Sustainable Pilot Grant awards to fulfill our ambition for a £2m pilot. A breakdown of the awards is set out below. All Sustainable Pilot Grants will be paid to One Public Estate partnerships by 31 March 2018.Partnership NameSustainable Pilot Grant AwardedSouthampton One Public Estate Board£250,000Transforming Bedfordshire£230,000London Borough of Merton£200,000Swindon Town Centre Regeneration Partnership£200,000Greater Manchester Combined Authority£194,900West Midlands Combined Authority£150,000Hertfordshire Property Partnership£75,000Liverpool City Region£75,000Dorset Community Offer for Living and Learning£33,919Total£1,408,819

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2018 to Question 128318, on One Public Estate Programme, if he will provide that same data by whether those bids were successful.

Oliver Dowden: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 06 March 2018.The correct answer should have been:

Further to the response provided for Question 128318, a breakdown of successful and unsuccessful applications to the One Public Estate programme is set out below.Sole Authority ApplicationsYearNo. of ApplicationsNo. of Successful ApplicationsNo. of Unsuccessful Applications2013/14121202014/152810182015/166602016/17232122017/1819127Total886127  Joint ApplicationsYearNo. of ApplicationsNo. of Successful ApplicationsNo. of Unsuccessful Applications2013/140--2014/154312015/16231852016/17535212017/1842420Total1221157 It is important to note that ‘successful applications’ denotes those partnerships receiving full or partial funding, and ‘unsuccessful applications’ denotes those that did not receive funding.

Oliver Dowden: Further to the response provided for Question 128318, a breakdown of successful and unsuccessful applications to the One Public Estate programme is set out below.Sole Authority ApplicationsYearNo. of ApplicationsNo. of Successful ApplicationsNo. of Unsuccessful Applications2013/14121202014/152810182015/166602016/17232122017/1819127Total886127  Joint ApplicationsYearNo. of ApplicationsNo. of Successful ApplicationsNo. of Unsuccessful Applications2013/140--2014/154312015/16231852016/17535212017/1842420Total1221157 It is important to note that ‘successful applications’ denotes those partnerships receiving full or partial funding, and ‘unsuccessful applications’ denotes those that did not receive funding.

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Scott Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have Rhabdomyosarcoma.

Scott Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who are aged over 18 and have cancer in (a) North Cornwall constituency and (b) Cornwall.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
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Cabinet Office: Internet

James Gray: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the volume of UK citizens’ data held by companies (a) supplying cloud services to his Department and (b) contracted to deliver cloud services on behalf of his Department that is subject to information requests from US Government bodies.

Oliver Dowden: I refer the Honourable gentleman to the response to PQ128071 answered on 22 February.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what percentage of workers employed directly by his Department belonged to a trade union in each year since his Department's formation.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade (DIT) was established in July 2016. The percentage of workers who are trade union members is not held by DIT.

Tyres: China

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to European Commission's recent decision to register imports of new and retreaded tyres imported from China, what guidance his Department is providing to UK companies importing such tyres from China.

Greg Hands: HM Revenue & Customs publishes on its website, links to European Commission notices and regulations, relating to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, including regulations making imports subject to registration.

China: Trade Missions

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value was of trade deals agreed by Scottish-based businesses which took part in the January 2018 trade visit to China by the Prime Minister.

Graham Stuart: During the Prime Minister’s visit to China over £9 billion in deals were announced including three Scottish-Chinese commercial agreements:Highland Spring agreed a new import agreement helping to facilitate a successful product launch;Fettes College secured a deal to establish a British-style bilingual school in a collaboration with their Chinese partners; andMerchiston Castle School Edinburgh has entered into a partnership to establish schools in China. Details of these deals are commercially confidential.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Healthy Living Ministerial Group

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Inter-Ministerial Group for Healthy Living is next due to meet; and whether that group will consider the correlation between a lack of physical activity by young British girls and their having poorer mental health and lower aspirations than boys.

Tracey Crouch: Sporting Future - Second Annual Report published in January confirmed that government is establishing an Inter-Ministerial Group on Healthy Living, to be co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Health and Social Care, which will bring together a range of departments to consider how sport and physical activity could be made more widely accessible, so that they benefit everyone. The Group will be meeting for the first time in early 2018. Although the initial focus of the Group will be on sport and physical activity over time we expect this to broaden to explore how it can add value to the health inequalities agenda more widely. The government’s sport strategy Sporting Future published in December 2015 recognised the impact that sport and physical activity has on mental health. We are continuing to work with sport and mental health organisations to promote the benefits of physical activity on mental health to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Sports

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support (a) grassroots football and (b) other sports in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) the UK.

Tracey Crouch: Sport England, government's arms length body, is spending over a billion pounds over the next four years to support grassroots sport. The Football Foundation is an organisation investing £60m each year into improving the country's grassroots football and sports infrastructure with money provided by its funding partners: the Premier League, The FA and the Government (via Sport England) Total grassroots football investment (Sport England and Football Foundation) for the North East is over £22m since 2010 and a full breakdown of figures for other grassroots sports funded by Sport England are available on their website, www.sportengland.org.  Responsibility for grassroots sport is devolved and each country has a Home Nation Sports Council, sportscotland, Sport Wales and Sport Northern Ireland in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively. UK Sport, ​which receives funding from the UK government and the National Lottery, prepares athletes for Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK, and is investing up to £345m to fund at least 38 sports across the current 4-year Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic funding cycle. UK Sport has also invested over £32m into Winter Olympic and Paralympic sports in the current PyeongChang 2018 funding cycle.

International Broadcasting

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions the Government has had with international broadcasters located in the UK as part of its negotiations on securing access to EU broadcasting markets.

Margot James: The government has engaged extensively with key broadcasting stakeholders on the impact of our exit from the EU. Over the past year, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the leading department for broadcasting policy, has held a number of ministerial roundtables with broadcasters on the topic of exiting the EU and related issues. We have also liaised with financial teams from a variety of broadcasting groups regarding the implications of our exit from the EU for these companies. In addition, ministers and officials continue to hold meetings with individual stakeholders to understand their preferences and concerns.

Public Sector: Cybercrime

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Cyber Essentials scheme in reducing cyber fraud in the public sector.

Margot James: The purpose of the Cyber Essentials scheme is to show all organisations - including those in the public, private and third sectors - how to put basic, technical cyber security measures in place to protect against the most common online threats. The Government has a much wider programme of activity to protect public sector organisations online, as set out in the National Cyber Security Strategy. One of the core functions of the National Cyber Security Centre is to help protect our critical services from cyber attacks and provide advice to public sector organisations, helping to make the UK the safest place to live and do business online.

Cybercrime: Insurance

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support and spread awareness of cyber security insurance amongst businesses.

Margot James: The best way for organisations to manage their cyber risk is by taking the appropriate measures to protect themselves. The Government has set up the National Cyber Security Centre to promote and provide guidance on the best ways for businesses to do this. Additionally, the Government is working closely with the insurance industry through our quarterly Cyber Insurance Forum to support the sector in developing products and services for businesses and identifying ways the industry can promote these as a means for organisations to further reduce their cyber risk.

Data Protection

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the contribution of big data to GDP in the current financial year.

Margot James: Big data, combined with advances in computing technology, is creating new opportunities for business growth across all industry sectors. It enables companies to gain new insights on consumer trends and preferences, improve productivity, and develop innovative new products and services. Figures are not currently available on the estimated contribution of big data to GDP this financial year, but industry research published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) in February 2016 estimates that between 2015 and 2020 the total benefit to the UK economy of big data analytics will amount to £241 billion, or £40 billion on average per year. The sectors expected to benefit most include manufacturing, professional services, telecoms and retail. The CEBR report is available at: https://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/en_gb/doc/analystreport/cebr-value-of-big-data.pdf

Digital Technology

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to reduce digital exclusion.

Margot James: We are committed to tackling digital exclusion and the UK Digital Strategy, published in March 2017, describes the steps we are taking across government. These include establishing the Digital Skills Partnership which brings together stakeholders from the private, public and charity sectors to join efforts to help people increase their digital skills at all levels. It will also build upon the 4 million pledges of free digital skills training opportunities that our corporate partners pledged as part of the Digital Strategy of which more than 2 million have already been delivered; introducing fully-funded basic digital skills training for adults lacking these vital skills from 2020. Adults will have the opportunity to take improved basic digital courses based on new national standards setting out the basic digital skills needed to participate effectively in the labour market and day–to-day life. We will consult on these new standards in the autumn; using the 3000 libraries across England to provide a trusted network of accessible locations with trained staff and volunteers, free Wi-Fi, computers, and other technology as well as Assisted Digital access to a wide range of digital public services where individuals are unable for whatever reason to access these services independently. These initiatives will build on the significant investment Government already makes in basic digital skills training through the Adult Education offer, the budget for which is being devolved to ensure decisions on skills provision are made at a local level. Government also funds the Future Digital Inclusion programme managed by the Good Things Foundation and delivered through the 5,000 strong Online Centres network. To date this programme has supported over 800,000 adult learners to develop their basic digital skills, many of whom are socially excluded.

Housing: Broadband

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 125135, on Housing: Broadband, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of that brokered agreement.

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 125135, on Housing: Broadband, if she will make initial reports on the effectiveness of the Government's brokered agreement available to (a) the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee and (b) the Scottish Affairs Select Committee inquiry into digital connectivity in Scotland.

Margot James: The agreement brokered by DCMS between the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and Openreach offers full fibre broadband to new builds at no cost to the developer when threshold conditions have been met. Virgin and GTC have similar agreements with the HBF. DCMS’s Barrier Busting Task Force are in the process of measuring the impact of these agreements and will report to the Select Committees once that work is complete.